Ewan Dow (born 8 December 1971,

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 ...

) is a former Scottish politician. He was educated at

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

and

Beath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. ...

High Schools and attended the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

though left prior to graduating. In May 1994 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 ...

councillor to the former

Tayside Tayside ( gd, Taobh Tatha) was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named for the River Tay. It was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, following recom ...

Regional Council and after only eight weeks was controversially appointed to be Leader of the Administration after the resignation of the previous leader, Councillor Lena Graham. In so doing Mr Dow made history as the youngest ever Scottish council leader since records began, being elected to this post at the age of 22 years. In April 1995 Dow was elected to the newly formed

Perth and Kinross Council Perth and Kinross Council ( gd, Comhairle Pheairt is Cheann Rois) is the local government council for the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland. It employs around 6,000 people. The council was created in 1996, under the ''Local Government ...

and following the abolishment of

Regional Council in 1996 served as depute leader and finance convener in the

's SNP administration until losing his council seat in the 1999 Scottish local government elections. During that time Dow led the fight against both the then Conservative and subsequent Labour Governments for funding for the proposed multimillion-pound Perth Flood Prevention Scheme much to the ire of local Tory Member of Parliament for North Tayside

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

. In 1997 Dow stood for the SNP in the

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

constituency against then Scottish Secretary of State Michael Forsyth coming third with 13.4% of the vote. In 2004 Dow was elected to the SNP's National Disciplinary Committee being re-elected in 2005 and 2006 when he was appointed convener of the committee in succession to

Lachie McNeill Lachlan () is a masculine given name, an Anglicised derivative from Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. Origins The name is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic ''Lachlann'', which is in turn derived from the earlier Gaelic personal name ''L ...

. At the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election Dow stood for the SNP in the Dunfermline East constituency coming second with 28.5% of the vote an increase of 10.1% on the 2003 election and securing the highest vote share achieved by the SNP in the constituency. During season 2008/09 Dow served on the board of Cowdenbeath Football Club in the joint role of club secretary and media officer. In the 2011 Scottish Parliament Elections Dow was 8th on the SNP Regional List for Mid Scotland and Fife but failed to be elected. Dow is a staunch

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and caused controversy in the late 1990s by referring to the British Royal Family as "Lizzie Windsor and the Spongers" during a debate on the monarchy at an SNP Annual Conference. In 2016 Dow resigned from the SNP, criticising

Cybernats Cybernat is a term used in the media of the United Kingdom to refer to online supporters of Scottish independence and the Scottish National Party. The term was apparently coined by Lord Foulkes and was used by Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray i ...

and labelling the SNP as being like "a cult with selfies".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Ewan 1971 births Living people People educated at Kirkcaldy High School Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Scottish National Party councillors Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates