Richard Thomson (politician)

Richard Gordon Thomson (born 16 June 1976) is a Scottish politician. He is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gordon since the 2019 general election,[2][3][4] having previously the leader of the SNP group on Aberdeenshire Council.[5] He has been serving as SNP Spokesperson for Business and Trade since 2022,[6] and SNP Spokesperson for Wales and Northern Ireland since 2021.[7][8]

For other people named Richard Thomson, see Richard Thomson (disambiguation).

Richard Thomson
MP
Official portrait, 2019
SNP Spokesperson for Business and Trade in the House of Commons[lower-alpha 1]
Assumed office
10 December 2022
LeaderStephen Flynn
Preceded byDrew Hendry
SNP Spokesperson for Northern Ireland in the House of Commons
Assumed office
1 February 2021
LeaderIan Blackford
Stephen Flynn
Preceded byKirsten Oswald
SNP Spokesperson for Wales in the House of Commons
Assumed office
1 February 2021
LeaderIan Blackford
Stephen Flynn
Preceded byKirsten Oswald
Member of Parliament
for Gordon
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byColin Clark
Majority819 (1.5%)
Personal details
Born
Richard Gordon Thomson[1]

(1976-06-16) 16 June 1976
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
EducationUniversity of Stirling
Edinburgh Business School

Early life and education

Thomson was born in Edinburgh in 1976, the son of Alexander and Ethel Thomson.

He was educated at Tynecastle High School, Edinburgh, before going to the University of Stirling to study History and Politics. He gained a BA (Hons) in 1998.[4] He is presently studying part-time for an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University.[9]

Career

He worked for Scottish Widows in Edinburgh from 1999 to 2004, firstly as an Assistant Manager in their Customer Relations Department, and latterly as an Account Manager in Corporate Pensions.[9]

He contributed a chapter exploring the 'social democratisation of the SNP' to a book on post-devolution politics called Breaking Up Britain – Four Nations After a Union, published in 2009 by Lawrence & Wishart.[10]

In August 2009, he was one of the three speakers in London at the What are the implications of Scottish Independence – for England? event hosted by the SNP, that discussed implications for England in areas such as defence, taxation, the role of the Monarchy, and possible political re-alignments.

He formerly wrote for the Ellon Times[11] and the Inverurie Herald. Thomson was a reporter and columnist for Angus Company Press from 2011 to 2012.[4] Since 2017, he has been Deputy Editor of The Scottish Independent newspaper.[4]

Political career

In 2001, he unsuccessfully contested the Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale constituency, a safe seat for the Liberal Democrats in which Thomson came fourth with 4,108 votes (12.4%).[9] Thomson was former Head of Campaigns for the Scottish National Party from 2004 to 2005, and the party's Westminster Head of Research, before returning to Aberdeenshire in the summer of 2008 to work for First Minister Alex Salmond.[12] Thomson was Parliamentary Assistant to Salmond from 2008 to 2011.

He worked as a senior researcher to MSP Shona Robison and MP Stewart Hosie from 2000 to 2007.[4] In 2010, he stood in Gordon: the Liberal Democrat Malcolm Bruce retained his seat, but Thomson took the SNP into second place.

Thomson was on Aberdeenshire Council from 2012 to 2020.[5] He was leader of Aberdeenshire Council from June 2015 until May 2017, and Opposition Leader from 2017 to 2020.[5][4] He represented the council on the North Sea Commission, where he was vice-chair of the Marine Resources Group.[13]

He was selected to contest the Gordon constituency for the second time at the 2019 general election. During the campaign he claimed, "A vote for me.. is not a vote for Scottish independence and I will never, ever, try and claim it as such."[14] He narrowly won the seat from the Conservative incumbent Colin Clark, with a slim majority of 819 votes (1.4%).[15]

In March 2020, Thomson resigned from Aberdeenshire Council to "concentrate 100% on being the MP for the Gordon Constituency".[5]

Personal life

Thomson lives in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.[11] His partner is Eilidh Mackechnie; the couple have two daughters.[4]

Notes
  1. SNP Spokesperson for International Trade from 10 December 2022 to 4 September 2023

References
  1. "No. 28275". The Edinburgh Gazette. 20 December 2019. p. 2192.
  2. "Gordon parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News". BBC News.
  3. Gossip, Alastair. "General Election 2019: Gordon elects fourth MP in as many elections". Press and Journal. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. "Thomson, Richard Gordon, (born 16 June 1976), MP (SNP) Gordon, since 2019". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293936. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  5. McVey, Rebekah (24 April 2020). "Gordon MP stands down from role as Aberdeenshire councillor". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. Archived from the original on 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  6. "SNP announces frontbench reshuffle at Westminster". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  7. SNP, the (10 December 2022). "The real opposition: meet your new SNP Westminster Frontbench". Scottish National Party. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  8. "Richard Thomson - Parliamentary Career". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  9. "Vote 2001: Candidate Richard Thomson". BBC News. 2001.
  10. "Books" (PDF). Lawrence & Wishart.
  11. Nixon, Jack (13 January 2020). "Former Ellon Times reporter makes it to Westminster". Ellon Times. Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Archived from the original on 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  12. "Richard Thomson — WalesHome.org". 11 January 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011.
  13. "Richard to contest Gordon seat". Ellon Times. Ellon, Aberdeenshire. 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 30 May 2021.
  14. Gordon, Tom (17 December 2019). "Nicola Sturgeon urges unity among parties on new independence referendum". The Herald. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 30 May 2021.
  15. Savege, Jim (12 December 2019). "UK Parliamentary Election: Declaration of Results: GORDON Constituency" (PDF). Aberdeenshire Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
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