Ian Stewart Hudghton (born 19 September 1951) 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 was President of the SNP from 2005 to 2020. He was 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) for North East Scotland (1998–1999) and its successor constituency;

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

from 1999 to 2019.

Political career

Hudghton joined the SNP in 1967. He was a District and Regional Councillor and the first elected leader of the unitary

Angus Council Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include ag ...

after its foundation in 1995/6. He had some success as an election agent for John Swinney and

Allan Macartney William John Allan Macartney (17 February 1941 – 25 August 1998) was a Scottish politician who served as a Scottish National Party MEP for the North East Scotland constituency between the 1994 European Parliament election and his sudden deat ...

. He was first elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1998, when he won his seat in a rare European Parliamentary by-election, after the death of sitting SNP MEP

. Following the 2004 European elections, Hudgton became a member and Vice-President of the

European Free Alliance The European Free Alliance (EFA) is a European political party that consists of various regionalist, separatist and ethnic minority political parties in Europe. Member parties advocate either for full political independence and sovereignty, ...

Group in the Parliament, which retained its own identity within the joint Green-European Free Alliance Group. He was a member of the Fisheries, Internal Market and Consumer Protection, and Transport and Tourism committees. In September 2005 Hudghton was elected as President of the SNP, following the retirement of

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 P ...

. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural SNP Annual Awards in November 2018. He stood down as an MEP at the 2019 elections.

References

External links

Personal MEP website

European Parliament historical profile
1951 births Living people Presidents of the Scottish National Party People from Forfar Scottish National Party MEPs MEPs for Scotland 1994–1999 MEPs for Scotland 1999–2004 MEPs for Scotland 2004–2009 MEPs for Scotland 2009–2014 MEPs for Scotland 2014–2019 {{UK-MEP-stub

Political career

See also

References

External links