Fergus Ewing

Fergus Ewing
Fergus Ewing MSP
Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism
	Incumbent
	Assumed office; 20 May 2011
First Minister	Alex Salmond
Preceded by	Jim Mather
Minister for Community Safety
	In office; 17 May 2007 – 20 May 2011
First Minister	Alex Salmond
Preceded by	Johann Lamont; (as Deputy Minister for Justice);
Succeeded by	Roseanna Cunningham
Member of the Scottish Parliament; for Inverness and Nairn; Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber 1999-2011;
	Incumbent
	Assumed office; 3 May 1999
Preceded by	new constituency
Majority	9745
Personal details
Born	23 September 1957 (age 54); Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Scottish National Party
Spouse(s)	Margaret Ewing until 2006
Relations	Winnie Ewing, Annabelle Ewing
Alma mater	University of Glasgow

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Fergus Ewing (born 23 September 1957) is the Scottish Government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism and the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Inverness and Nairn.

[edit] Background

He is the son of the veteran Scottish Nationalist Winnie Ewing (his father was also an SNP councillor) and has long been active in the SNP. Educated at Loretto, in Musselburgh, he studied law at the University of Glasgow where he was a member of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association. His late wife, Margaret Ewing, was the MSP for the neighbouring constituency of Moray until her death in March 2006. His sister, Annabelle Ewing, was the MP for Perth until the 2005 election.

He was elected to represent Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber in the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and he held on to the seat in 2003 and 2007. He, with his mother Winnie Ewing, abstained from the vote to abolish section 2A^[1] via the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 but otherwise is viewed as being among the more moderate of the Scottish National Party MSPs, while his opposition to an outright ban on fox hunting also marked him out from many of his party colleagues. After the SNP's victory at the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election, Ewing was appointed as the Minister for Community Safety. After the SNP victory at the 2011 Scottish Parliament Election, he was appointed as the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, succeeding Jim Mather who had stood down as an MSP.

Fergus Ewing MSP

Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 May 2011
First Minister	Alex Salmond
Preceded by	Jim Mather
Minister for Community Safety
In office 17 May 2007 – 20 May 2011
First Minister	Alex Salmond
Preceded by	Johann Lamont (as Deputy Minister for Justice)
Succeeded by	Roseanna Cunningham
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Inverness and Nairn Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber 1999-2011
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 May 1999
Preceded by	new constituency
Majority	9745
Personal details
Born	23 September 1957 (1957-09-23) (age 54) Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Scottish National Party
Spouse(s)	Margaret Ewing until 2006
Relations	Winnie Ewing, Annabelle Ewing
Alma mater	University of Glasgow