Alex Johnstone

Alexander Johnstone (31 July 1961 – 7 December 2016) was a Scottish Conservative politician. He served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2016.

Alex Johnstone
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for North East Scotland
In office
6 May 1999 – 7 December 2016
Succeeded byBill Bowman
Personal details
Born(1961-07-31)31 July 1961
Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Died7 December 2016(2016-12-07) (aged 55)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyConservative
SpouseLinda Anne Johnstone
Children2

Political career

Johnstone had been Member of the Scottish Parliament for the North East Scotland electoral region since 1999. He fought the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency in the 2005 general election, finishing second. He also finished second in Angus North and Mearns at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, but was re-elected as an additional member on the party list. He was the longest serving Conservative MSP of the Scottish Parliament and the last remaining Conservative MSP to have served continuously since the 1999 election. In Holyrood he had served as Chief Whip and rural affairs spokesman for the Scottish Conservative Party and Shadow Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change. In 2016, Johnstone was the party's spokesman for Housing, Transport and Infrastructure.[1] Johnstone was deputy convenor of the Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament.[2]

In 2014, Johnstone and his colleague Nanette Milne re-paid more than £12,000 to the Scottish Parliament after breaching office expenses rules.[3]

Johnstone, a Church of Scotland elder, made public comments against a proposal to let individual congregations select gay clergy for their church. He told the Press and Journal newspaper that a move to allow gay clergy would "ultimately weaken" the church. Johnstone was one of 18 MSPs who voted against same-sex marriage when, in February 2014, the Scottish Parliament backed it.

Personal life

Johnstone was educated at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven before working as a dairy and arable farmer. He married Linda in 1981 and they had two children, Alexander Johnstone (born 1983) and Christine Watson (born 1987).

Johnstone died of cancer on 7 December 2016. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson called him "a big man with a big heart" who "embodied politics at its best".[4]

References
  1. "Scottish Conservative appointments for new parliamentary term". Scottish Conservatives. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  2. "Alex Johnstone MSP". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  3. MSPs that claimed thousands too much in expenses named Archived 1 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone dies aged 55". BBC News. 7 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
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