Finlay Hamilton Carson (born 18 October 1967) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician serving as

Convener The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee since 2021. 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 Galloway and West Dumfries since

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Early life and education

Carson was born in

Twynholm Twynholm ( 'TWINE-um') is a village in Scotland. It is located north-northwest of Kirkcudbright and east of Gatehouse of Fleet on the main A75 trunk road. It is in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire , Dumfries and Galloway.

on 18 October 1967. He attended Twynholm Primary School and later

Kirkcudbright Academy Kirkcudbright Academy is a state funded, six-year secondary school in Kirkcudbright, Scotland with about 400 pupils and 87 staff including teaching, support and administration. Notable alumni *Jennie Adamson was a Labour Party politician in t ...

. Carson then went to study at 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 ...

where he graduated with a BSc Agriculture. Carson and his brother ran an IT business together. Carson lives with wife Jackie and has 4 children.

Political career

Carson, from 2012, was a councillor for Castle Douglas and Glenkens. He succeeded Peter Duncan who was the former MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

he stood for the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

as the Conservative candidate for the

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

constituency where he was unsuccessful and came second to the SNP's

Richard Arkless Richard Lambert Thomas Arkless (born 7 July 1975) is a Scottish National Party politician, who was elected as MP for Dumfries and Galloway at the 2015 UK general election. He lost his seat at the following election in 2017. Background and edu ...

by 11.5% of the vote. In 2016 he stood for 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 Galloway and West Dumfries, in place of the retiring Conservative MSP Alex Fergusson. He successfully held the seat for the Conservatives and had a majority of 1,514 votes (4.5%) over his SNP rival

Aileen McLeod Aileen McLeod (born 24 August 1971) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Scotland constituency, having been elected in the 2019 European Parliament election. She served ...

with a swing of 0.8% from the SNP to the Conservatives. Carson is the Scottish Conservative spokesperson for Digital Economy, Animal Welfare and Biodiversity. He also sits on the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament. At 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 ...

Carson was re-elected as MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries with an increased majority of 2,635 votes over the SNP's

Emma Harper Emma Harper is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Early life Harper was born and raised on a farm n ...

who finished in second place. Carson said he was "absolutely delighted" his vote share increased and while he thought " Indyref2 played some part in some people’s votes" he attributed his victory it to people supporting his position of challenging the Scottish Government on issues relating to "investment in the south-west and particularly in the west of the region in

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

". On 12 January 2022, Carson called for

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

to resign as Conservative party leader and Prime Minister over the

Westminster lockdown parties controversy Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about parties and other gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gather ...

along with a majority of Scottish Conservative MSPs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Finlay 1967 births Living people People from Dumfries and Galloway People educated at Kirkcudbright Academy Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Conservative MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Scottish Conservative Party councillors Councillors in Dumfries and Galloway