William George Walker (born 31 March 1942) is a Scottish politician who was the

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 the Dunfermline constituency from 2011 until his resignation in 2013. He was elected as a

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) Member but was expelled from the party in 2012 and then served as an Independent Member. In 2013, he was convicted of 23 charges of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, and then resigned as an MSP following pressure from other politicians and the press.

Early life

Walker was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He attended the old Royal High School in Edinburgh. He obtained a First Class Honours BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and a Postgraduate Certificate in Computer Programming from

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

in Chicago, and a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Edinburgh Management School. He is a

Chartered Engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thro ...

, a

Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Fellow of the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET) is the highest grade of Institution of Engineering and Technology membership, awarded to those who have sustained high levels of achievement, for several years. Fellows must demon ...

, and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

Political career

He served as a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

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 ...

Council from 2007 until 2012. While serving as a West Fife and Coastal Villages Councillor, Walker was a member of Fife Council's Environment, Enterprise & Transportation Committee from 2007 to 2012. In May 2011, he was elected MSP for the Dunfermline Scottish Parliament constituency, gaining the seat for the

. In August 2011, Walker criticised proposals to legalise

same-sex marriage in Scotland Same-sex marriage in Scotland has been legal since 16 December 2014. As family law is not reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Scottish Parliament has legislative competence to make changes to the law on marriage. A same-sex mar ...

. In October 2011, he expressed dismay at the UK Government's decision to drop its support for the

Carbon Capture and Storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

project in

Longannet Power Station Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, nea ...

which was in his constituency. On 4 March 2012, the ''

Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

'' published claims that his three previous marriages had ended with allegations of violent behaviour towards his wives. The same day, the Scottish National Party suspended him for allegedly not declaring similar claims cited in no-contest divorce actions dating back many years. The SNP expelled Walker on 8 April for allegedly not declaring the allegations cited in his uncontested divorce proceedings during the MSP vetting process. He continued to sit in the Scottish Parliament as an Independent and appealed his expulsion.

Trial and conviction

A case was brought against Walker and was heard at

Edinburgh Sheriff Court Edinburgh Sheriff Court is a sheriff court in Chambers Street in Edinburgh, within the sheriffdom of Edinburgh and Borders. History The new court was commissioned by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to replace the Old Sheriff Court i ...

on nine days over a two-week period and adjourned on 2 August 2013. On 22 August 2013, Walker was convicted of 23 charges of

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

and one

breach of the peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...

in relation to three ex-wives and a stepdaughter. By early September a majority of MSPs had also backed a motion calling on him to resign. On 7 September 2013, he resigned from the Scottish Parliament, claiming there had been a "media onslaught" against him. On 20 September 2013, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison by Edinburgh Sheriff Court. When sentencing him, Sheriff Kathrine Mackie said "Having regard to the gravity of these offences as a result of the cumulative effect of them, your extreme denial and complete absence of any remorse, and the assessment of risk, I have come to the conclusion that a custodial sentence is the only appropriate disposal. In my opinion, the repeated abuse and violent behaviour towards your three former wives and stepdaughter over a period of 28 years outweighs other factors." Within a few weeks, lawyers acting on his behalf appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh to appeal against a custodial sentence and this was quickly dismissed. He was released from

HM Prison Dumfries HM Prison Dumfries services the courts of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The establishment serves as a local community prison that holds adult and under 21 males who are remanded in custody for trial and those convicted but remanded for report ...

on 21 March 2014 under automatic early release rules after serving half of his sentence. On 17 April 2014 his appeal against his conviction was turned down.

Personal life

He married long-term partner, June, shortly after his election as an MSP in 2011. After he was sent to prison, Walker apparently approached a Scottish publishing firm to see if they were interested in his autobiography; he was turned down. In September 2017, his autobiography was published and made available online under the title ''Bill Walker: My Story''.

References

External links

*
Bill Walker's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Bill 1942 births Living people Politicians from Edinburgh People from Alloa Scottish engineers Scottish National Party MSPs Independent MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Scottish people convicted of assault Violence against women in Scotland Scottish politicians convicted of crimes Prisoners and detainees of Scotland People convicted of domestic violence