Paul Nicholas Johnston (born 5 January 1948) is a Scottish politician who was a Conservative

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 Mid Scotland and Fife region from May 1999 until August 2001.

Political career

He stood as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

& Unionist candidate for the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and was elected for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. At the beginning of Parliament, Johnston took the oath in Catalan. In January 2001 he wrote a letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', where he expressed disillusionment with the attitude of other politicians. An absence from Parliament began in February 2001 with an episode of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. Johnston resigned in August 2001, citing disillusionment with politics and his perception of a weak party leadership as reasons for doing so. His place in 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 ...

was taken by

Murdo Fraser Murdo MacKenzie Fraser (born 5 September 1965) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife reg ...

. Johnston was among a group of former MSPs who supported

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...

, saying that it would give Scotland an opportunity to "create a fairer, more equal society".

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- Daily Telegraph 1948 births Living people People from Filey Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Conservative MSPs Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst {{MSP-stub