Fergus Stewart Ewing (born 23 September 1957) 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 who served as the
Scottish Government's
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy from 2016 to 2021, having previously held two junior ministerial posts. He has been 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) since 1999: for
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber from 1999 to 2011, and for
Inverness and Nairn since 2011.
Background
Ewing is the son of the veteran Scottish nationalist
Winnie Ewing
Winifred Margaret Ewing (' Woodburn; born 10 July 1929) is a Scottish politician, lawyer and figure within the independence movement who served as President of the Scottish National Party from 1987 to 2005. Ewing was a Member of the Scottish ...
, who served as a
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 ...
(MP) 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. ...
, as a
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP), and an MSP. His father was an SNP local councillor. He has long been active in the Scottish National Party.
Educated at
Loretto School
Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.
History
The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...
, in
Musselburgh
Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of .
History
The name Musselburgh is Ol ...
, he read Law at 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
, ...
where he was a member of the
Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association
The Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association (GUSNA) is a student organisation formed in 1927 at the University of Glasgow which supports Scottish independence.
History
GUSNA is important historically as it predated many pro-independ ...
. His late wife,
Margaret Ewing
Margaret Anne Ewing (''née'' McAdam, formerly Bain; 1 September 1945 – 21 March 2006) was a Scottish teacher, journalist and politician. She served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for East Dunbartonshire from 1974 t ...
, was the MSP for the neighbouring constituency of
Moray
Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.
Between 1975 ...
until her death from breast cancer in March 2006. His sister,
Annabelle Ewing, was 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 ...
(MP) for
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
until the
2005 general election and has been the MSP for
Mid Scotland and Fife since 2011.
He is now in a relationship with Dr. Fiona Pearsall with whom he had a daughter in 2008.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Ewing was elected to represent
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber in the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
in
1999 and he held on to the seat in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
and
2007.
He, with his mother
Winnie Ewing
Winifred Margaret Ewing (' Woodburn; born 10 July 1929) is a Scottish politician, lawyer and figure within the independence movement who served as President of the Scottish National Party from 1987 to 2005. Ewing was a Member of the Scottish ...
, abstained from the vote to abolish
Section 28
Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...
via the
Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000
The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 7) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which established that the Scottish Ministers had to issue a code of conduct for councillors, and put in place mechanisms for dealing with ...
; he also opposed an outright ban on
fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...
. After the SNP's victory at the
2007 Scottish Parliament Election
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fe ...
, Ewing was appointed as the
Minister for Community Safety. After the SNP victory at the
2011 Scottish Parliament Election, he was appointed as the
Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, succeeding
Jim Mather
James Stuart "Jim" Mather (born 6 March 1947) is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism from 2007 to 2011, and he was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 2003 to 2011 ...
who stood down as an MSP. In February 2014 he voted against the legalisation of
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 November 2014 the portfolio became Business Energy & Tourism.
In 2019 civil servants complained to senior managers that Ewing had bullied them. Speaking to journalists Ewing said: "I completely reject all claims against me. A process is underway and that is entirely right and proper when such allegations are made. That process is at an early stage. I will make no further comment while that process is ongoing." The previous year Ewing apologised to an official for his "forthright" manner, after a bullying complaint was lodged against him.
After the 2021 election Ewing was replaced as a minister by
Mairi Gougeon
Mairi Angela Gougeon ( née Evans; born 23 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottis ...
and became a backbencher. In a public letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Ewing revealed: "In our discussion yesterday, you indicated that you will form a slimmed down cabinet. Obviously, you have had to make some tough decisions and we agreed that this meant I should now step out of Government."
In 2022 Ewing backed new oil and gas exploration and drilling projects in the North Sea, claiming that "we need all oil and gas production we can get in the short and the medium term", and that "the transition period away from hydrocarbons will last decades." Hence, he condemned the
Scottish Greens
The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; gd, Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Green Pairtie) are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 20 ...
, the SNP's
government partners, whose policies he described as "somewhat extreme".
References
External links
*
Fergus Ewing.comOfficial Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, Fergus
1957 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh
Politicians from Glasgow
Scottish National Party MSPs
Members of the Scottish Cabinet
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
Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026
Scottish solicitors