John Lamont

John Robert Lamont (born 15 April 1976) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk since 2017. Lamont previously served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, later Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire after boundary changes, from 2007 to 2017. He has been serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland since October 2022.[1]

For other people named John Lamont, see John Lamont (disambiguation).

John Lamont
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
Assumed office
27 October 2022
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byDavid Duguid
Member of Parliament
for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byCalum Kerr
Majority5,148 (9.7%)
Convener of the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee
In office
1 March 2011 – 22 March 2011
Preceded byBill Aitken
Succeeded byChristine Grahame
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Roxburgh and Berwickshire (2007–2011)
In office
3 May 2007 – 4 May 2017
Preceded byEuan Robson
Succeeded byRachael Hamilton
Personal details
Born
John Robert Lamont

(1976-04-15) 15 April 1976
Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland
Political partyScottish Conservatives
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Websitewww.johnlamont.org

Early life

John Lamont was born on 15 April 1976 in Kilwinning to Robert and Elizabeth Lamont. He was educated at Kilwinning Academy and studied at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow where he gained a first class honours degree. He worked as a solicitor at Freshfields in London and then at Brodies in Edinburgh.[2]

Political career

In 2002, Lamont stood as a candidate in the London Borough of Lambeth in the Brixton ward where he finished in 10th place. As well as becoming involved in local politics, he became the Chairman of his local Conservative association and was the Conservative candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk at the 2005, 2010 and 2015 general elections.[2]

Lamont as an MSP in 2011

In May 2007, Lamont was elected Member of the Scottish Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire. In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, he won the newly constituted Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire seat with an increased majority. As an MSP, he served as Scottish Conservative Chief Whip and Parliamentary Business Manager.[3] From 1 March to 22 March 2011, Lamont was briefly Convener of the Justice Committee following the resignation of Bill Aitken.[4] He caused controversy in May 2011, for accusing Catholic education in the west of Scotland to be 'state-sponsored conditioning of sectarian attitudes'.[5] Following the resignation of Annabel Goldie as the Scottish Conservative leader, Lamont had been tipped as a potential candidate to replace her, however he reportedly 'self-destructed' his chances following his remarks on Catholic schools.[6] In November 2017, it emerged that Lamont's local party had accepted a £2,000 donation from one of the funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a self-proclaimed "climate sceptic" organisation.[7]

Lamont announced his intention to stand down from this Holyrood seat effective 4 May 2017 to stand at the 2017 snap election for the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat.[8] As a constituency MSP, Lamont's resignation triggered a by-election in the constituency, which was won by Rachael Hamilton of the Scottish Conservatives.[9] In June 2017, he was elected Member of Parliament for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, with a majority of 11,060 votes; which made the constituency the safest Conservative seat in Scotland.[10] He was re-elected to serve as MP at the December 2019 general election, but with a lower vote count of 48.4% and a majority of 5,148.[11]

Lamont was given the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign Office in November 2021.[12] He resigned from this position on 6 June 2022 in order to vote against Boris Johnson in the vote of no confidence.[13] He was previously critical of Johnson over the parties in Number 10 during lockdown, saying it was "sickening" to read about them.[14]

Appointed on 26 October 2022, Lamont is currently a Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Scotland Office. [2]

Personal life

In 2014 he became the first UK politician to complete an Ironman Triathlon and was the fastest MP in the 2018 London Marathon, running to raise funds for MND Scotland and the My Name's Doddie Foundation.[15] He also ran the 2019 London Marathon, raising money for Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal.[16]

References
  1. "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  2. "Lamont, John, (born 15 April 1976), MP". doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U246231. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Scottish Conservative appointments for new parliamentary term". Scottish Conservative Party. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  4. "Justice for Lamont". The Southern Reporter. 10 March 2011.
  5. "MSP in 'sectarian' school attack". BBC News. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  6. "Gay MSP in running to lead Scots Tories". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  7. Hutcheon, Paul (26 November 2017). "Ruth Davidson in 'hypocrisy' row over donation from climate change sceptic". The Herald.
  8. Green, Chris (25 April 2017). "Tory MSP resigns from Holyrood to contest Westminster seat". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  9. "WATCH: Rachael Hamilton wins Holyrood by-election". Border Telegraph. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  10. "General Election Results 2017 - Seat: Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk". The Scotsman. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  11. Anderson, Joseph (13 December 2019). "General election: John Lamont retains Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat". Southern Reporter. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  12. Richards, Xander (26 November 2021). "Scottish Tory MP John Lamont to take new role working under Liz Truss". The National. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  13. Sparrow, Andrew (6 June 2022). "Boris Johnson no-confidence vote under way as Tory MPs cast ballots to decide prime minister's future – live". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  14. Elgot, Jessica (31 May 2022). "Tory MP John Stevenson submits letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  15. Lamont, John. "About John Lamont". John Lamont MP. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  16. Lamont, John. "About John Lamont". John Lamont MP. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
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