Peter Grant (politician)

Peter Grant (born 12 October 1960) is a Scottish politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glenrothes since his election in the 2015 general election. He is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Peter Grant
MP
Member of Parliament
for Glenrothes
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byLindsay Roy
Majority11,757 (28.3%)
Personal details
Born (1960-10-12) 12 October 1960
Coatbridge, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party (since 1987)
SpouseFiona Grant (1985–present)

Early life

Grant was raised in Lanarkshire and moved to Glenrothes in 1983. He married Fiona who later served as a Scottish National Party councillor. He joined the Scottish National Party in 1987.[1][2][3]

Political career

Early politics

Grant served on the council in Fife from the Glenrothes and Kinglassie ward from 1992 to 2015. During his tenure on the council he served as leader of the Fife Council from 2007 to 2012, with a coalition between the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats. In 2015, he left the council so that he could focus on his campaign for a seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[1][2][4]

EU Referendum

During a speech in Parliament on Monday 5 September 2016, Peter Grant equated campaigners for leaving the European Union, to the extreme right, when he said "The referendum was provoked by the desire of the then Prime Minister to fend off a challenge from the extreme right—not only the extreme right in the Conservative party, but those who were too extreme for his party—rather than facing down the xenophobes who wanted to demonise immigration and hold immigrants responsible for all the ills in our society."[5]

Elections

Member of Parliament John MacDougall died in 2008, causing a by-election to be held in the Glenrothes constituency. Grant was selected to serve as the Scottish National Party's candidate, being the first candidate nominated by a party in the by-election, and was defeated by Labour nominee Lindsay Roy.[6][7] Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party, stated that he was at fault for the party's defeat in the by-election.[8]

Grant was the Scottish National Party's candidate in the 2015 general election and defeated Labour nominee Melanie Ward, and Conservative nominee Alex Stewart-Clark.[9] He was re-elected in the 2017 general election against Labour nominee Altany Craik and Conservative nominee Andrew Brown.[10] He was re-elected in the 2019 general election against Labour nominee Pat Egan, Conservative nominee Amy Thomson, and Liberal Democrats nominee Jane Ann Liston.[11]

Tenure

Grant served as the Scottish National Party Spokesperson for Exiting the European Union from 20 June 2017 to 7 January 2020, until he was replaced by Philippa Whitford. He has served as the Assistant Spokesperson for the Treasury since 7 January 2020.[12]

He announced in June 2023 that he would stand down at the next general election.[13]

Political positions

In July 2021, Grant apologised for a post on Twitter he made stating that "You're more right than you care to admit. Murdering babies wasn't on the Nazi manifesto." Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, stated that "We are disturbed by the suggestion from some MPs that Nazism only gradually revealed its true aims."[14]

Grant supported Nicola Sturgeon's condemnation of transphobia.[15][16]

Electoral history
2008 Glenrothes by-election[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Lindsay Roy 19,946 55.11% +3.20%
SNP Peter Grant 13,209 36.49% +13.12%
Conservative Maurice Golden 1,381 3.82% -3.27%
Liberal Democrats Harry Wills 947 2.62% -10.03%
Scottish Senior Citizens Jim Parker 296 0.82% +0.82%
Scottish Socialist Morag Balfour 212 0.59% -1.30%
UKIP Kris Seunarine 117 0.32% -0.86%
Solidarity Louise McLeary 87 0.24% +0.24%
Total votes 36,195 100.00%
2015 general election in Glenrothes election[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Peter Grant 28,459 59.79% +38.06%
Labour Melanie Ward 14,562 30.59% -31.75%
Conservative Alex Stewart-Clark 3,685 7.74% +0.53%
Liberal Democrats Jane Ann Liston 892 1.87% -5.80%
Total votes 47,598 100.00%
2017 general election in Glenrothes election[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Peter Grant (incumbent) 17,291 42.80% -16.99%
Labour Altany Craik 14,024 34.71% +4.12%
Conservative Andrew Brown 7,876 19.50% +11.76%
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Bell 1,208 2.99% +1.12%
Total votes 40,399 100.00%
2019 general election in Glenrothes election[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Peter Grant (incumbent) 21,234 51.11% +8.31%
Labour Pat Egan 9,477 22.81% -10.90%
Conservative Amy Thomson 6,920 16.66% -2.84%
Liberal Democrats Jane Ann Liston 2,639 6.35% +3.36%
Brexit Party Victor Farrell 1,276 3.07% +3.07%
Total votes 41,546 100.00%

References
  1. "Glenrothes: Candidate profiles". BBC. 29 October 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  2. "Peter Grant Glenrothes". Scottish National Party. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  3. "About Me". Peter Grant. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. "Grant steps down from council to concentrate on MP role". Central Fife Times. 11 July 2015. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  5. "EU Referendum Rules". Parliament of the United Kingdom.
  6. "SNP reveals by-election candidate". BBC. 22 August 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  7. "Glenrothes - 6 November 2008" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 17 November 2009. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2016.
  8. "Glenrothes: Alex Salmond admits blame for SNP failure". The Guardian. 7 November 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  9. "2015 General Election". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  10. "2017 General Election". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  11. "2019 General Election". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  12. "Parliamentary career". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  13. Gilmour, Lauren (21 June 2023). "Second SNP MP to stand down at next election". The Independent. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  14. "'Murdering babies wasn't on the Nazi manifesto': SNP MP apologises over bizarre twitter rant". The Press and Journal. 16 July 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  15. "SNP MPs are falling over themselves to back trans rights and praise Nicola Sturgeon". PinkNews. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  16. "SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon condemns transphobia in 'message from the heart': 'No debate can be a cover for transphobia'". PinkNews. 27 January 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
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