Colin Beattie (born 17 October 1951) is 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) politician. He has been 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 Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency since 2011. Prior to this role, he was a councillor and group leader of the SNP on Midlothian Council.

Early career

For 23 years, Beattie worked as an international banker across the Middle East and Asia. He then decided after a period of working in London that he would return to living in Scotland with his wife, Lisa.

Political career

Beattie took an early retirement in 2006 to focus on being elected to

Midlothian Council Midlothian Council is the local authority for Midlothian, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, covering an area immediately south of the city of Edinburgh. The council is based in Dalkeith. Since the last boundary changes in 2017, eighteen co ...

. He was elected to represent Midlothian South in the

2007 Midlothian Council election Elections to Midlothian Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using six new wards created as a result of th ...

and was SNP group leader on the Council. Beattie won the newly created seat of Midlothian North and Musselburgh in 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, ...

with a majority of just under 3000 votes. He retained his seat in the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electi ...

, with a majority of over 7,000 votes. He was also the SNP National Treasurer from 2004–2020; he was defeated in the 2020 SNP internal elections by Douglas Chapman. However when Chapman later resigned in May 2021, stating "I had not received the support or financial information required to carry out the fiduciary duties of National Treasurer", Beattie returned to the position. He was selected unopposed as the SNP's candidate for the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The ele ...

and retained his seat, with an increased majority of 7,906. Beattie was formally censured in 2013 by the

Standards Commission for Scotland The Standards Commission for Scotland is an independent body that has the purpose of advancing high ethical standards in public life. Its main tool is the promotion and enforcement of Codes of Conduct for councillors (approved by the Scottish Parl ...

for breaching the Councillors’ code of Conduct for failing to register interest in property whilst a councillor.

Personal life

Beattie is married to former

leader Lisa Beattie.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, Colin 1951 births Living people Scottish National Party MSPs People from Forfar Scottish bankers Scottish National Party councillors Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026