George Reid (Scottish politician)

Infobox Officeholder
name=The Rt Hon. George Reid


order=2nd
office=Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
term_start =7 May 2003
term_end =14 may 2007
predecessor =David Steel
successor =Alex Fergusson
constituency_MP2=Ochil
parliament2=Scottish
term_start2=
term_end2=
predecessor2=Richard Simpson
successor2= Keith Brown
birth_date =birth date and age|1939|6|4
birth_place =Tullibody, Clackmannanshire
party= Scottish National Party

The Rt. Hon. George Newlands Reid, (born 4 June 1939) was the second Presiding Officer (Speaker) of the Scottish Parliament, and was the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May 2008.

Early life and work

George Reid was born in 1939 at Tullibody, near Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, and educated at Dollar Academy, Clackmannanshire, and the University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, where he was awarded a Master's degree with First Class Honours in History in 1962. He then continued with further studies in Switzerland and Union College, U.S., obtaining a diploma in international relations [http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archive/2006/november/headline_28968_en.html University of Glasgow :: Archive :: November ] ] .

He worked as a broadcast journalist and television producer for the BBC, Granada Television and Scottish Television, and as a print journalist for several newspapers. In this time he produced over 200 television documentaries, including Emmy winner "Contract 736".

Westminster Parliament

Reid was elected as the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire in the UK general election, February 1974, with a majority of 3,610 [ [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74a/i19.htm Not updated: UK General Election results: February 1974 ] ] . He more than doubled his majority to 7,341 in the UK general election, October 1974 [ [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74b/i19.htm Not updated: UK General Election results: October 1974 ] ] , but then lost by a narrow 984 votes in the UK general election, 1979 [ [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge79/i19.htm Not updated: UK General Election results: May 1979 ] ] .

During his time as an MP he served as a member of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and Western European Union [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmCentre/news/news-07/pa07-010.htm Scottish Parliament - News - MSPs welcome international dignitaries to Holyrood ] ] .

Red Cross

After leaving Westminster he briefly returned to journalism, and was producer of the famous reportage by Michael Buerk of the Ethiopian famine of 1984 that inspired the Band Aid and Live Aid charity campaigns, which led him to be headhunted by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent [ [http://www.coldtype.net/Africa/AW.A4Scot.LR.pdf AW ] ] . He was Director of Public Affairs there for 12 years, based in Geneva, Switzerland, but working worldwide in conflict and disaster zones. After relief efforts for the 1988 Armenian earthquake he was recognised with the Gold Medal of the Supreme Soviet of Armenia and the Pirogov Gold Medal of the USSR.

The Scottish Parliament

In 1995 Reid re-entered Scottish politics by delivering the annual Donaldson Lecture at the SNP conference, drawing on his knowledge of continental European politics to argue a case for why a party like the SNP could be expected to prosper if a Scottish Parliament was established. Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland George Robertson's contrary claim that devolution would "kill the SNP stone dead" was dismissed by Reid by saying "Ho, ho, ho" [ [http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/hamish/donald95.html Scots Independence Tour - Oh to be in Britain ? ] ] .

He stood in the Ochil constituency, which covered approximately the same area as his old seat, at Westminster in the UK general election 1997, coming in second [ [http://www.alba.org.uk/ge97/rochil.html Ochil ] ] . When the new Labour administration moved forward with proposals for a Scottish Parliament, Reid first served on the pre-establishment Consultative Steering Group [ [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/history/whisp/whisp-00/wh55-01.htm WHISP 55/1 ] ] , and then was elected in the first election in 1999 to represent Mid Scotland and Fife.

At the opening of the Parliament Reid was defeated 82 votes to 44 by Sir David Steel (a Liberal Democrat, the last-ever leader of the British Liberal Party) for the position of Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and was instead elected a Deputy Presiding Officer [ [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-99/or010104.htm#Col7 Scottish Parliament - Official Report ] ] .

At the 2003 Scottish Parliament Election Reid succeeded in winning the Ochil constituency first past the post [ [http://www.alba.org.uk/scot07results/mr06.html Ochil ] ] . He was then elected by his fellow MSPs to succeed David Steel as Presiding Officer [ [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-03/sor0507-02.htm#Col9 Scottish Parliament - Official Report ] ] . As the office is non-partisan, he took voluntary suspension from his political party, the SNP.

As the Presiding Officer has a role in advising the Queen, Reid was appointed a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 2004. At the official opening of the controversial new Scottish Parliament building that year, he made a keynote speech in which he paid tribute to the construction as an architectural achievement, and urged parliamentarians to "listen to the building" to inspire them in their future endeavours [ [http://scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/projHistory/POspeech.htm The Scottish Parliament: - About Holyrood - Project History - Building Opens - Presiding Officer's Speech ] ] .

As Presiding Officer he also led the creation of a Scottish Futures Forum, to promote cross-party strategic thinking [http://www.scottishaffairs.org/onlinepub/sa/bort_sa53_aut05.html] . He was appointed President of the Royal Commonwealth Society Scotland [ [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmcentre/news/news-05/pa05-014.htm The Scottish Parliament: Presiding Officer Made President Of Royal Commonwealth Society Scotland ] ] , and became Patron of the Scottish Disability Equality Forum [ [http://www.sdef.org.uk/AboutSDEF/Personneal.htm SDEF - Personnel ] ] . During his time as Presiding Officer he won the Herald newspaper's Scottish Politician of the Year award in 2003 and 2005, making him the only person so far to have won the award on two occasions [ [http://www.theherald.co.uk/politician2007/recipients The Herald : Politician 2007: Recipients ] ] .

After Presiding Officer

Reid chose not to seek re-election at the end of the 2007 Parliamentary term. As an independent figure with experience of a devolved parliament, he was chosen to lead a review of the administration of the troubled Northern Ireland Assembly [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7074931.stm BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Assembly 'should have own staff' ] ] . Reid also joined the European Union's Caucasus-Caspian diplomatic commission [ [http://www.holyrood.com/content/view/213/10552/ holyrood.com - The Business of Politics - George Reid receives Russian award ] ] . On April 19th 2007, he was made a Freeman of the County of Clackmannanshire [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6559317.stm BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | George Reid poised for top honour ] ] .

He was then appointed Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in January 2008, to serve as the Queen's personal representative to the Church of Scotland [ [http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page14261.asp Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ] ] . This position is second only to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in the ceremonial Order of Precedence [ [http://www.burkes-peerage.net/articles/Peerage/page62-4e.aspx Burke's Peerage & Gentry - Article Library ] ] .

He also serves as an Honorary Professor in the School of Law at Glasgow University [ [http://www.gla.ac.uk/stafflist/?action=list&id=316 University of Glasgow :: A-Z listings :: Staff A-Z ] ] , and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of St Andrews [ [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/nmcentre/news/news-05/pa05-053.htm The Scottish Parliament: - News: PO receives honorary degree from St Andrews ] ] , University of Edinburgh [ [http://129.215.67.86/pressreleases/FMPro?-DB=MC_PressReleases&-Format=release.htm&-Op=Equals&Release_Number=1457&-Find=Find News Releases ] ] , University of Stirling and Queen Margaret University [ [http://www.qmu.ac.uk/marketing/press_releases/georgereid.htm Queen Margaret University ] ] . Reid is married with two children.

References

External links

* [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/george_reid/index.htm Scottish Parliament official website - Rt Hon George Reid MSP]
* [http://www.scotlandfutureforum.org Scottish Futures Forum]