Alexander Johnstone (31 July 1961 – 7 December 2016) was a Scottish

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician. He served 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 North East Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2016.

Political career

Johnstone had been

for the North East Scotland electoral region since 1999. He fought the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency in the 2005 general election, finishing second. He also finished second in Angus North and Mearns at the

2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to Members of the 4th Scottish Parliament, elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, ...

, but was re-elected as an additional member on the party list. He was the longest serving Conservative MSP of the Scottish Parliament and the last remaining Conservative MSP to have served continuously since the 1999 election. In Holyrood he had served as

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

and rural affairs spokesman for the Scottish Conservative Party and Shadow Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change. In 2016, Johnstone was the party's spokesman for Housing, Transport and Infrastructure. Johnstone was deputy convenor of the Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament. In 2014, Johnstone and his colleague

Nanette Milne Nanette Lilian Margaret Milne (born 27 April 1942, in Aberdeen) is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland from 2003 to 2016. Early life and education ...

re-paid more than £12,000 to the Scottish Parliament after breaching office expenses rules. Johnstone, a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

elder, made public comments against a proposal to let individual congregations select gay clergy for their church. He told the '' Press and Journal'' newspaper that a move to allow gay clergy would "ultimately weaken" the church. Johnstone was one of 18 MSPs who voted against

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

when, in February 2014, the Scottish Parliament backed it.

Personal life

Johnstone was educated at Mackie Academy in

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

before working as a dairy and arable farmer. He married Linda in 1981 and they had two children, Alexander Johnstone (born 1983) and Christine Watson (born 1987). Johnstone died of cancer on 7 December 2016. Scottish Conservative leader

Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...

called him "a big man with a big heart" who "embodied politics at its best".

References

External links

Alex Johnstone MSP
personal site profile *
Alex Johnstone MSP
profile at the site of the Scottish Conservatives
Alex Johnstone MSP
profile at the site of the Conservative Party 1961 births 2016 deaths Elders of the Church of Scotland People from Stonehaven People educated at Mackie Academy Conservative MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Scottish Conservative Party parliamentary candidates 20th-century Scottish farmers {{MSP-stub