George Reid (Scottish politician)

The Rt. Hon. George Newlands Reid, (born 4 June 1939) was the second Presiding Officer (Speaker) of the Scottish Parliament.

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Early life

George Reid was born in 1939 at Tullibody, near Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, and educated at Dollar Academy, Clackmannanshire, and the University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, where he was awarded a first-class Master's degree in History in 1962. He then continued with further studies in Switzerland and Union College, U.S., obtaining a diploma in international relations.

He worked for a few years as a broadcast journalist and television producer for the BBC, Granada Television and Scottish Television, and as a print journalist for several newspapers.

Enters politics

He was elected as the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire in the UK general election, February 1974. He defended the seat in the UK general election, October 1974, but lost it in the UK general election, 1979. During his time as an MP he served as a member of the Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Red Cross

For 12 years he worked as director of public affairs for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, based in Geneva, Switzerland, but working worldwide in conflict and disaster zones.

Return to politics

After several years away from Scottish politics, he heralded his comeback in 1994 by delivering an academic-style lecture at the SNP conference, drawing on his knowledge of continental European politics to argue a case for why a party like the SNP could be expected to prosper if a Scottish Parliament was established. Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland George Robertson's contrary claim that devolution would "kill the SNP stone dead" was dismissed by Reid by saying "Ho, ho, ho".

He narrowly failed in an attempt to win the Ochil constituency (which covered approximately the same area as his old seat) at Westminster in the UK general election 1997, but was subsequently elected in the Scottish Parliamentary Election, 1999 to represent Mid Scotland and Fife.

In 1999 he was defeated by Sir David Steel (a Liberal Democrat, the last-ever leader of the British Liberal Party) for the position of Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and was instead elected a Deputy Presiding Officer.

At the 2003 Scottish Parliament Election he was elected to represent the Ochil constituency. He was elected by his fellow MSPs to succeed David Steel as Presiding Officer. As the office is non-partisan, he had to take voluntary suspension from his political party, the SNP, when he was elected to the post of Presiding Officer, as all bearers of this office will have to do. When questioned by a television journalist about whether he was right to weaken the party's ranks in this way, he produced his SNP membership card and pointed out that it imposed two obligations on its holders - the first being to campaign for self-government for Scotland, and the second being to work for the furtherance of all Scottish interests, which he argued was what he was doing.

He was appointed a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 2004 (as the Presiding Officer has a role in advising Her Majesty, it is expected that Presiding Officers will be appointed to the Privy Council).

At the official opening of the controversial new Scottish Parliament building in 2004, he made a keynote speech in which he paid tribute to the construction as an architectural achievement, and urged parliamentarians to "listen to the building" to inspire them in their future endeavours.

After the Parliamentary term ended in 2007, Reid will not seek re-election. Instead he will lead a mission to the Caucasus on behalf of the European Union, and will lecture at Glasgow University. [1]

On April 19th 2007, George Reid was made a Freeman of the County of Clackmannanshire. [2]

Reid is married with two children.