Alasdair Neil Morgan (born 21 April 1945) is a former

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) politician. He was Depute Leader of the SNP from 1990–91 and served in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale from 1997–2001. He was elected in 1999 as a

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale. From 2003–2011, he served as a member for the

South of Scotland South of Scotland may refer to: * The southern portion of Scotland ** Geography of Scotland * South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region) * South of Scotland (European Parliament constituency) * South of Scotland District (rugby union) ...

region. Morgan was a

Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament sco, Preses o the Scots Pairlament , body = , member_of = Scottish Parliamentary Corporate BodyScottish Parliament , insignia = Scottish_Parliament_logo_purple_vertical.png , insigniasize = 150px , insigniacaption = Logo used to represent ...

from 2007–2011. He is currently an Electoral Commissioner.

Early life and career

Morgan was born in Aberfeldy and was educated at Breadalbane Academy and the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating in 1968 with a MA Honours degree in

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

Political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

. From 1971–74 he worked as a Teacher of Mathematics at

Linlithgow Academy Linlithgow Academy is a secondary school in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland. The original academy was built in 1900 to a design by James Graham Fairley and replaced an earlier kirk institution, known as "Sang Schule". History The present ...

and subsequently

Douglas Ewart High School Douglas Ewart High School was opened in 1922 in Newton Stewart, Scotland. It was formed by the amalgamation of the Douglas Free School opened in 1834 and the High School of the Ewart Institute opened in 1864. The headteacher has been George Web ...

. He graduated from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1990. He was employed as a Software Programmer at

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

from 1974–80, then as a Systems Analyst with

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

from 1980–84. He then worked as a Computer Systems Team Leader at Fife Regional Council (1984–1986), Lothian Regional Council (1986–1996) and West Lothian Council (1996–1997).

Political career

Morgan joined the Scottish National Party in 1974. He served as SNP National Treasurer from 1983–90, when he was elected Senior Vice Convener (depute leader) at the same election that saw

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

first elected as Leader of the Scottish National Party. Morgan was defeated by

Jim Sillars James Sillars (born 4 October 1937) is a Scottish politician and campaigner for Scottish independence. Sillars served as a Labour Party MP for South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976. He founded and led the pro- Scottish Home Rule Scottish Labour ...

in the depute leadership election the following year, but served as National Secretary from 1992–97. During that same year, he was elected as one of the SNP's vice presidents; an office he held until these positions were abolished as part of the party's constitutional reforms in 2004. He was the SNP candidate for the Tayside North constituency in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, Dundee West in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. Morgan was elected as the

for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale at the 1997 general election and served as a member of the Trade and Industry Select Committee and as leader of the SNP parliamentary group in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1999–2001. Morgan stepped down at the 2001 general election. He was elected as the

(MSP) for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, with a majority of 3,201 votes. He served as convener of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee from 2000–01. At the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election, he narrowly lost his constituency seat to Alex Fergusson of the

Scottish Conservative Party The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

by just 99 votes. However, he was elected as a List MSP for the

region. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, he was re-elected by the regional list. Morgan served as convener of the Enterprise and Culture Committee from 2003–04, convener of the SNP parliamentary group from 2003–05, and as SNP chief whip from 2005–07. Morgan was a

from 2007–11. He retired as an MSP at the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election. In May 2014, he was appointed as an Electoral Commissioner

Personal life

Morgan is married with two daughters. He lives in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at the Electoral Commission
They Work For You
, {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Alasdair 1945 births Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Scottish National Party MPs Scottish National Party MSPs UK MPs 1997–2001 Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the Open University British computer programmers People from Perth and Kinross Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament