Iain Smith (Scottish politician)

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Iain Smith MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Fife
Incumbent
Assumed office  6 May 1999
Preceded by	new constituency
Majority	5,016 (15.9%)
Born	1 May 1960 (1960-05-01) (age 49) Gateside, Fife
Nationality	British
Political party	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Residence	Ladybank, Fife
Alma mater	Newcastle University
Committees	Convener, Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee
Website	http://iainsmith.org/

Iain Smith (born 1 May 1960) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician, and Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Fife.

Contents 1 Education 2 Early career 3 Holyrood 4 Personal life 5 References

[edit] Education

Smith was educated at Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, Fife before reading Politics and Economics at Newcastle University.

[edit] Early career

Prior to entering Parliament, Smith worked for Northumberland County Council, managed an Advice Centre in Dundee and was Constituency Assistant to North East Fife MP, Sir Menzies Campbell. Simultaneously, he was a Councillor and Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Fife Council 1986 to 1999.

[edit] Holyrood

Smith was elected to the first Scottish Parliament in May 1999 to represent his home constituency of North East Fife and was appointed as Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business in the government of First Minister Donald Dewar. A post he held until Donald Dewar’s death the following year.

He convened the Parliament’s Procedures Committee from 2003 until 2005 when he was elected Convener of the Education Committee, a position he held until the 2007 Election.

After the election Smith was appointed Scottish Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Europe, External Affairs and Culture and was elected by his collegues to Chair of the Scottish Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party. In September 2008 he became Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s influential Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee.

Since 2001 he has represented the Scottish Parliament as a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly

[edit] Personal life

Smith is one of four openly gay, lesbian or bisexual MSPs, along with Patrick Harvie, Margaret Smith and Joe FitzPatrick.^[1]

For the past eight years, Smith has lived with his partner in Ladybank. He has a broad interest in sports, particularly cricket and football. He likes to travel widely and has a keen interest in culture.

[edit] References

Scottish Parliament
Preceded by Constituency Created	Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Fife 1999–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Tavish Scott	Convener of the Energy, Economy and Tourism Committee 2008–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Robert Brown	Convener of the Education Committee 2005–2007	Succeeded by Karen Whitefield
Preceded by Murray Tosh	Convener of the Procedures Committee 2003–2005	Succeeded by Donald Gorrie
Political offices
Preceded by Office Created	Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business 1999–2000	Succeeded by Tavish Scott

Iain Smith v • d • e      Members of the Scottish Parliament in the Mid Scotland and Fife region Elected in the 2007 election SNP (6 seats), Labour (5 seats), Conservative (3 seats), Lib Dems (2 seats) Constituency MSPs Helen Eadie (Lab, Dunfermline East) • Jim Tolson (Lib Dem, Dunfermline West) • Tricia Marwick (SNP, Fife Central) • Iain Smith (Lib Dem, Fife North East) • Marilyn Livingstone (Lab, Kirkcaldy) • John Swinney (SNP, North Tayside) • Keith Brown (SNP, Ochil) • Roseanna Cunningham (SNP, Perth) • Bruce Crawford (SNP, Stirling) Additional Members Claire Baker (Lab) • Ted Brocklebank (Con) • Murdo Fraser (Con) • Chris Harvie (SNP) • John Park (Lab) • Richard Simpson (Lab) • Elizabeth Smith (Con) v • d • e Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs Elected in the 2007 election Robert Brown • Ross Finnie • Jim Hume • Hugh O'Donnell • Liam McArthur • Alison McInnes • John Farquhar Munro • Mike Pringle • Jeremy Purvis • Mike Rumbles • Tavish Scott • Iain Smith • Margaret Smith • Nicol Stephen • Jamie Stone • Jim Tolson

• Iain Smith MSP official site
• Iain Smith MSP official biography at the Scottish Parliament website
• Iain Smith MSP profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats