Graham Simpson is a British politician and former journalist who 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) for the Central Scotland region 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 ...

. A member of the

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

, he served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity from 2020 to 2021. He was a councillor in

South Lanarkshire Council South Lanarkshire Council ( gd, Comhairle Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is the unitary authority serving the South Lanarkshire council area in Scotland. The council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1b ...

between 2007 and 2017. Within Parliament, Simpson is the Conservative Party Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Communities and Social Security and sits on the Local Government and Communities Committee. Simpson is also the Deputy Convenor of the cross party group on Cycling, Walking and Buses, Deputy Convenor of the cross party groups on Life Sciences and Architecture and the Built Environment as well as a member of the Beer & Pubs and Housing cross party groups.

Early career

Simpson worked as a journalist for 26 years at

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

, rising to the position of deputy chief sub-editor of ''

The Scottish Sun ''The Sun'' is a British Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, published by the News UK#News Group Newspapers Ltd, News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It was found ...

''. He also worked briefly at the '' Daily Record''.

Political career

South Lanarkshire Council

Simpson was elected to the East Kilbride West ward in the

2007 South Lanarkshire Council election Elections to South Lanarkshire Council took place on 3 May 2007 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election was the first to use the 20 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act ...

, having been elected after the seventh count and receiving 860 first preference votes. He contested the same ward in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and was elected on the first count with 1,197 first preference votes.

Scottish Parliament

For 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 ...

, Simpson was selected in to contest the East Kilbride constituency and was placed second on the Conservatives' Central region list, behind Margaret Mitchell MSP and ahead of Alison Harris MSP. Margaret Mitchell was re-elected and both Simpson and Harris were elected to the Scottish Parliament for the first time on the Central region list. The electoral region represented by Simpson covers

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

, Motherwell and Wishaw and Airdrie and Shotts. In the 2016–21 Scottish Parliament, Simpson is Scottish Conservative spokesperson for Housing and Communities, convener of th
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
and a member of th
Local Government and Communities Committee
He is also a member of the following Cross-Party Groups
Beer And PubsCycling, Walking and BusesHousing
an
Life Sciences
In September 2017, Simpson was criticised after claiming there are "no-go areas" in some parts of Scotland's major cities. The SNP said his comments echoed those of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, who was widely condemned after saying police were frightened to enter some parts of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Graham Living people Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Conservative MSPs Scottish Conservative Party councillors Scottish journalists Politicians from Aberdeen Year of birth missing (living people) Councillors in South Lanarkshire Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026