John Barrett (politician)

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = John Barrett
honorific-suffix =

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constituency_MP = Edinburgh West
term_start = 7 June2001
term_end =
parliament =
majority = 13,600 (30.0%)
predecessor = "new constituency"
successor =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1954|2|11|df=y
birth_place = Hobart. Tasmania, Australia
death_date =
death_place =
nationality =
spouse = Carol
party = Liberal Democrat
relations =
children = 1 daughter
residence =
alma_mater = Napier College
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

John Andrew Barrett (February 11, 1954), Scottish politician, is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West.

Early life

Born in Hobart, Tasmania, he was educated at the Forrester High School on "Broomhouse Road" in Edinburgh, Telford College and Napier College of Commerce and Technology (as it then was). He has been a director of ABC Productions Ltd, based on "Rothesay Place" in Edinburgh, since 1985.

He was elected to the City of Edinburgh Council for South-East Corstorphine ward in 1995 and was the Chairman of the Liberal Democrat Group from 1995. He was the parliamentary election agent for Donald Gorrie in Edinburgh West at the 1997 General Election. He contested the inaugural Scottish Parliament elections in 1999 for Linlithgow and he was defeated by Mary Mulligan.

Parliamentary career

In 2000, Donald Gorrie decided to stand down from Westminster and concentrate on the Scottish Parliament. Barrett won the nomination to defend Edinburgh West at the 2001 General Election, which he did so, easily. He was a spokesman on International Development in 2003, and was promoted by Charles Kennedy in December 2005 to Shadow Minister of State for Scotland. He was re-instated as a spokesman on international development alongside his Scotland Office responsibilities in March 2007. In this role he has fought prominent campaigns against trade in dog and cat fur.

Following the boundary changes in 2005, Edinburgh West now includes the areas of Stenhouse and Murrayfield. He was re-elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005, with a majority of 30% over the nearest (Conservative) candidate, in a seat which the Lib Dems had won for the first time only eight years before.

Barrett is a founding member of the Beveridge Group within the Liberal Democrats. [ [http://www.beveridgegroup.org.uk/about-us/about-us.html About us] - "The Beveridge Group" 2007-10-28] Since 2000, he has also been Vice President of the Scottish Liberal Club.

Personal life

He married Carol, a wildlife artist and former artist-in-residence at Edinburgh Zoo, on the day that Arthur Ashe won the Men's Singles title at Wimbledon. They have a daughter, Sarah, and a granddaughter, Maria.

References

External links

* [http://www.johnbarrettmp.com/ John Barrett MP] official site
* [http://www.libdems.org.uk/people/john-barrett John Barrett MP] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
* [http://www.scotlibdems.org.uk/biographies/barrettj.htm John Barrett MP] profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/John+Barrett/ ePolitix.com - John Barrett MP]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-6673,00.html Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle - John Barrett MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_barrett/edinburgh_west TheyWorkForYou.com - John Barrett MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=John_Barrett&mpc=Edinburgh+West The Public Whip - John Barrett MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/697.stm BBC News - John Barrett MP] profile 10 February, 2005

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2189249.stm Plane crash report in August 2002]