Sir James Angus Rhoderick Neil McGrigor, 6th Baronet (born 19 October 1949) is a

Scottish Conservative Party 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 ...

politician, who is a councillor in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

. He had previously 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

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...

region from 1999 until 2016.

Early life and career

McGrigor was born in

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 ...

in 1949 and educated at Cladich Primary School in Argyll and privately at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. He studied Commercial French at the

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking university based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, law and eco ...

in Switzerland. After graduating, he worked in finance in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

and in the shipping sector in Glasgow. He also farmed sheep and cattle, and started a

trout farm The aquaculture of salmonids is the farming and harvesting of salmonids under controlled conditions for both commercial and recreational purposes. Salmonids (particularly salmon and rainbow trout), along with carp, and tilapia are the three most ...

in Argyll in the early 1970s.

Political career

McGrigor stood unsuccessfully for the

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...

in the 1997 general election. He fought

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, finishing second, and fought the equivalent seat in 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 ...

, finishing third. He served as Scottish Conservative spokesperson for fisheries, and communities and sport. He is also an Honorary Vice-President of

English-Speaking Union Scotland The English-Speaking Union Scotland (ESU Scotland) is an educational Scotland, Scottish Charitable organization, charity whose purpose, shared with the English-Speaking Union internationally, is to promote international understanding and human ac ...

. McGrigor was also the driving force behind the establishment of the

Scottish Register of Tartans The Scottish Register of Tartans (SRT) is Scotland's official non-ministerial department for the recording and registration of tartan designs, operating since 5 February 2009. As a governmental body, SRT is headquartered at HM General Register Ho ...

. His Member's Bill was given support by the Scottish Government and was subsequently passed by 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 ...

on 9 October 2008. This makes McGrigor one of the first MSPs to have passed a Private Member's Bill through the

. In 2017, he stood in the Argyll and Bute Council election and was elected to the Oban South and the Isles ward.

Family

McGrigor is the eldest son of the late Sir Charles McGrigor, 5th Bt, by his wife Mary Bettine (the historian Mary McGrigor), daughter of

Sir Charles Edmonstone, 6th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. He is descended patrilineally from

Sir James McGrigor, 1st Baronet Sir James McGrigor, 1st Baronet, (9 April 1771 – 2 April 1858) was a Scottish physician, military surgeon and botanist, considered to be the man largely responsible for the creation of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He served as Rector of the ...

, Wellington's Surgeon General serving the British Army in Spain during the Peninsular campaign, who received a baronetcy in 1831. Another distinguished relative was the late Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, grandson of the second Baronet and thus his first cousin twice removed. Jamie became the 6th Baronet upon the death of his father, Sir Charles, on 1 October 2007. He has been twice married and has six children. His son Alexander James Edward Lyon (born 1998), by his second marriage, is his

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

.Debrett's Peerage 2008

References

Bibliography

External links

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Jamie McGrigor MSP profile
Scottish Conservative Party
Jamie McGrigor MSP profile
Conservative Party {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrigor, Jamie 1949 births Living people People educated at Eton College Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative MSPs 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 University of Neuchâtel alumni Members of the Royal Company of Archers Scottish Conservative Party parliamentary candidates Scottish expatriates in Switzerland People educated at Sunningdale School