Jean Urquhart

Jean Urquhart MBE (born 17 May 1949) is a Scottish politician. She was formerly a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), first elected in 2011 for the Highlands and Islands region as a Scottish National Party (SNP) member, then continuing to sit as an independent after she left the SNP in October 2012. She had been an SNP councillor at the Highland Council from 2003 to 2011.

Jean Urquhart
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Highlands and Islands
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
In office
6 May 2011 – 24 March 2016
Personal details
Born (1949-05-17) 17 May 1949
West Lothian, Scotland
Political partyRISE – Scotland's Left Alliance (2015–2020)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (2012–2015)
Scottish National Party (until 2012)
SpouseRobert Urquhart (died 1995)
Children2
OccupationPolitician
Websitejeanurquhart.com

Early life

She was born on 17 May 1949 in West Lothian,[1] the daughter of an agricultural engineer. She was educated at Lindsay High School, Bathgate.[2]

Political career

In 1999, she stood unsuccessfully as the SNP candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.[3] In the 2003 Parliament election she was eighth on the SNP's regional list, with only two of these getting seats.[4]

In the 2003 election for the Highland Council she became a SNP member for the Lochbroom Ward.[5] In 2007 she was returned as councillor for Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh.[6] She was then named as vice-convener to lead an Independent/ SNP administration.[7] In 2009 the Steering Group of the UK's first ever Housing Fair appointed her as its chair when this event was held near Inverness.[8][9]

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament Election she stood as the SNP candidate for Shetland.[10] She was elected from the regional list, becoming a SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands.[11] She was a member of the Scottish National Party until October 2012, when she and John Finnie resigned from the party over the change to the party's NATO policy.[12] She continued as an independent.[13] In 2014, after Urquhart intervened, the Post Office Ltd made its mortgage service available to people in Bute, Lewis, Harris, Orkney, Shetland, Arran, Mull and Islay.[14] in 2015 she raised the issue of the safety of sex workers, suggesting that legislation could be introduced that would enable some transformative actions be taken.[15]

In October 2015 it was reported that she would not be seeking re-election to the Scottish Parliament in 2016.[16] The following month, having become a member of RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance, she became involved with drawing up its Highlands and Islands manifesto for this election.[17] In January 2016 RISE announced their candidates, with Urquhart named as their lead for the Highlands and Islands regional list.[18] RISE were not successful in electing any of their candidates in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. The alliance was subsequently deregistered in November 2020.[19]

Awards and honours

She had been awarded a MBE in 1990 for services to the arts and the community, in recognition of the work she and her husband and others put in to establish The Ceilidh Place as a centre for the arts and tourism. She was later offered an OBE but turned it down.[20] In 2015, it was reported that she had decided to hand back her MBE, explaining that the awards system did not recognise the efforts of the many other people that had been involved.[21]

She received an honorary fellowship from the University of the Highlands and Islands in 2006.[22]

Personal life

Since 1973 she has managed "The Ceilidh Place",[13] a hotel in Ullapool which was named Venue of the Year at the Scots Trad awards in December 2014 for its championing of Scottish culture all year round.[23] She was married to Robert Urquhart, a well-known Scottish actor in British film, stage and television, who died in 1995.

In 2000 she took a Scottish Studies course at Newbattle Abbey College.[24] In 2017 she completed an art course and some of her work was exhibited in Ullapool following this.[25]

References
  1. "Jean Urquhart: Personal Information". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  2. Rhodes, Mandy (5 November 2012). "Independent woman". Holyrood. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. "Vote 99: Constituency: Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  4. "Vote 2003: Scottish Parliament election. region: Highlands and Islands". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  5. "Local government elections: Election results 2003". Highland Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  6. "Local government elections: Election results 2007". Highland Council. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  7. "Leaders elected to north councils". BBC News. BBC. 17 May 2007.
  8. "Urquhart set to spearhead housing fair". Ross-shire Journal. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  9. "The Highland Housing Fair". Architects' Journal. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  10. Robertson, John (6 May 2011). "Urquhart wins seat as SNP run Liberal Democrats very close in Shetland list vote". The Shetland Times. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  11. "Scotland elections: Regions: Highlands and Islands". BBC News. BBC. 11 May 2011.
  12. Ross, David (23 October 2012). "Highland MSPs quit SNP over Nato policy change". Herald Scotland. Newsquest. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  13. "Jean Urquhart MSP". The Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  14. "Post Office reacts to criticism on island mortgages". BBC News. 13 March 2014.
  15. Grant, Katie (11 September 2015). "Scottish MSP's plans to decriminalise sex work wins support across the country". The Independent. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  16. "Scottish Parliament Fact sheet. Session 4 MSPs not standing in the 2016 Election" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. 26 October 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2015.
  17. "Ex-SNP MSP to draw up Rise manifesto". BBC News. 18 November 2015.
  18. Freeman, Tom (6 January 2016). "RISE announces regional list candidates". Holyrood. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  19. "RISE - Respect, Independence, Socialism and Environmentalism [De-registered 06/11/20]". The Electoral Commission.
  20. Candlish, Jane (10 January 2015). "Highlands and islands MSP hands back MBE". Press and Journal. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  21. Bevington, Pete (8 January 2015). "Local MSP hands back her MBE". The Shetland News. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  22. "honorary awards: honorary fellowships: 2006 honorary fellowships". University of the Highlands and Islands. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  23. Ferguson, Brian (13 December 2014). "Trad Music Awards: Martyn Bennett Story victorious". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  24. "Alumni: Jean Urquhart". Newbattle Abbey College. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  25. Paterson, Kirsteen (25 February 2017). "Politics career draws to a close as former MSP Jean Urquhart makes belated return to the easel". The National. Scotland. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
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