Gilbert Martin Paterson (born in Springburn,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, 1942) 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 th ...

(SNP) politician, who served as 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 add ...

(MSP) for Clydebank and Milngavie, from

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. Previously he had been an MSP for the West of Scotland region, having been elected on 3 May 2007. From 1999 to 2003 he was an MSP for Central Scotland.

Career

Brought up in Springburn in the North of

, Paterson attended

Possilpark Possilpark is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde and centred around Saracen Street. The area developed around Saracen Foundry of Walter MacFarlane & Co., which was the main employer. In the wake of the ...

Secondary School, before building up his own business ''Gil's Motor Factors''. He served as a

(SNP) councillor in Strathclyde Regional Council and sat on the SNP's National Executive Committee, before being elected as one of five SNP MSPs for Central Scotland in the first election to 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 Holyr ...

. During the first parliamentary term he sat on both the ''Local Government'' and ''Procedures'' committees in the Parliament. At the 2003 election, only three SNP MSPs were returned for Central Scotland and Paterson lost his seat in Parliament. He returned to running his business but stayed active in the SNP, becoming the party's vice-convenor in charge of fundraising, a position he had held previously. Paterson was one of the heaviest critics of the leadership style of

John Swinney John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland since 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery since 2021. He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from ...

, and in the aftermath of the 2004 European election he openly called for Swinney's resignation, which happened shortly afterwards. In 2006, Paterson was selected to stand as candidate for the Clydebank and Milngavie Scottish Parliamentary constituency. In the 2016-2021 session of the Scottish Parliament, Paterson was elected as the SNP Group convener. He is also a member of two committees, 'European and External Relations' and 'Subordinate Legislation', the latter of which he is deputy-convener. In August 2020, Paterson announced that he would be stepping down as an MSP 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 e ...

. Writing in the ''Clydebank Post'', he said, "I shall not be seeking re-election in May due to personal circumstances. This was a decision I took very reluctantly, after a long period of reflection."

Ideological positions

Gil Paterson MSP and reporter Maxine McArthur

Brexit

Paterson voted Remain in the June 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's EU membership. He was active in raising

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

concerns for business and economics in Scotland, including questioning First Minister

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

First Minister's Questions First Minister's Questions are question time sessions held respectively in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd. First Minister's Questions is an opportunity for members of each legislature to question the respe ...

in the

Free tuition

Mr Paterson is a supporter of free

tuition fees Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

in Scotland, and appeared in the ''Milngavie and Bearsden Herald'' in August 2017 asking for clarity from

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bear ...

Jo Swinson Joanne Kate Swinson (born 5 February 1980) is a former British Liberal Democrat politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 22 July to 13 December 2019. She was the first woman and the youngest person to hold the position, as well ...

, a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

, about her stance followin
comments
made by her party leader,

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as ...

, in '' The Press and Journal''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Gil 1942 births Living people Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Politicians from Glasgow Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 People from Possilpark