Mike Pringle (born 25 December 1945) is a

Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 o ...

politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh South from 2003 to 2011.

Background

He was born in Northern Rhodesia (modern-day

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

), and educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

. He is a keen follower of

Heart of Midlothian F.C. Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the S ...

and was a strong supporter of the campaign to prevent the sale of the club's

Tynecastle stadium Tynecastle Park is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as ...

in 2004. He is a strong supporter of the Free Tibet Campaign and has introduced a Bill into the Scottish Parliament to introduce a levy on plastic bags in Scotland similar to the successful Irish plastic bag tax. He has been an Honorary Vice-president of English-Speaking Union Scotland.

Political career

From 1992 to 2003 he was a member of the City of Edinburgh Council. In the

1997 UK general election The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179 seat majority. ...

he ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in Edinburgh South, and in the equivalent constituency in the

1999 Scottish Parliament election The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliam ...

. In the latter he came third out of the five candidates, with 22% of the vote; less than five hundred votes behind

Margo MacDonald Margo Symington MacDonald (''née'' Aitken; 19 April 1943 – 4 April 2014) was a Scottish people, Scottish politician, teacher and Television presenter, broadcaster. She was the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (United Kingdo ...

. He was also a candidate for the Lothians, but was not elected through the list system. He ran again in the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election for Edinburgh South, winning it from Angus MacKay by half a per cent of the votes – a majority of 158. He served on the Justice Committees of the Scottish Parliament. In September 2006, the Scottish Parliament's Standards Committee banned him for a week from attending full sessions and committee meetings of the Parliament for leaking details of the

Shirley McKie Shirley McKie (born August 1962) is a former Scottish police detective who was accused by fingerprint analysis staff of the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) of leaving her thumb print on the bathroom door frame of a murder crime-scene i ...

case to a newspaper. He was re-elected in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. He lost the redrawn seat of

Edinburgh Southern Edinburgh Southern is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Edinburgh. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It ...

to the SNP's Jim Eadie in the

2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional M ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Mike 1945 births Living people Zambian people of Scottish descent Zambian emigrants to the United Kingdom Liberal Democrat MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh constituencies Councillors in Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy Scottish Liberal Democrat councillors