Richard Lyle
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Richard Macdonald Lyle (born 12 June 1950) is a retired
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. He served as the
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 Uddingston and Bellshill constituency from 2016 to 2021, having previously represented the Central Scotland region from 2011 to 2016. Before becoming an MSP, Lyle was a
North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
councillor for 30 years.


Early life

Lyle was born in
Bothwellhaugh Bothwellhaugh was a Scottish coal mining village housing Hamilton Palace Colliery workers and their families. Locals referred to the village as The Pailis. It was located near to the towns of Motherwell, Bellshill and Hamilton in Lanarksh ...
,
Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...
and educated at Lawmuir School and Bellshill Academy. He worked for the
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...
before entering politics.


Career

Lyle joined the SNP in 1966 and served as a local councillor on Motherwell District Council and
North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
Council for 35 years, including the Bellshill ward from 2007 to 2011. At the
2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to Members of the 4th Scottish Parliament, elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, ...
, Lyle won election as an MSP for the Central Scotland region. During a debate on
same-sex marriage in Scotland Same-sex marriage in Scotland has been legal since 16 December 2014. As family law is not reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Scottish Parliament has legislative competence to make changes to the law on marriage. A same-sex mar ...
in August 2011, Lyle and with his SNP colleagues Dave Thompson, John Mason and
Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...
were widely condemned for raising a motion stating that no person or organisation should be forced to be involved or to approve of same-sex marriage. Lyle was at the center of an internal party dispute within the SNP Uddingston and Bellshill branch in February 2016, during which a small minority of party members state that they would refuse to vote for him at the then upcoming Scottish Parliament election. It was revealed during the lead up to the election that Lyle's Holyrood nickname is "Salty Dick" after it became public knowledge that he had once claimed the cost of a £1.80 bag of chips on expenses. In February 2020, Lyle announced that he would not be seeking re-election at the
2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The ele ...
. "The 2014 referendum was amazing and seeing the huge change in the number of people supporting independence and I will continue to fly the flag for
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
," he told '' The National''. "But the saddest day of my life though was when untruths about my branch, about myself and about the people I know. Being called Don Corelone hurt me and hurt my wife. I am not Don Corelone." He was also the deputy convener of the cross-party Building Bridges with Israel group. In May 2020, a motion marking the 72nd anniversary of the
Nakba Clickable map of Mandatory Palestine with the depopulated locations during the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The Nakba ( ar, النكبة, translit=an-Nakbah, lit=the "disaster", "catastrophe", or "cataclysm"), also known as the Palestinian Ca ...
—the exodus of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948—was tabled by fellow SNP MSP
Sandra White Sandra White (born 17 August 1951) is a retired Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow electoral region from 1999 until 2011, and then the MSP for the Glasgow Kelvin constitue ...
. The '' Morning Star'' revealed that Lyle had tried to attach an amendment to the motion in which he called the tragedy "self-inflicted".
"20% of Israel's citizens are Arabs who chose not to flee in 1948, and who enjoy their democratic rights in Israel and contribute meaningfully to Israel society at all levels, including membership of the
Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
, with several Arabs serving as high ranking members of the Israel police and army. The conclusion can only be that the akba the Arabic word for tragedy, resulting in the 1948 Palestine refugee crisis was sadly a self-inflicted tragedy, which must, after all these years, be finally resolved by peaceful means and discussions between the parties involved."
Nadia El-Nakla, convenor of SNP Friends of Palestine, said Lyle's remarks were "not just a revision of history but also an insult to every Palestinian worldwide" and called on the SNP to discipline him. On 15 November 2020, after nearly 45 years as a councillor and MSP, Lyle announced his retirement from politics in an interview with the '' Daily Record''. "This next year will mark 45 years as a politician. And next year I will be 71 years of age. ..I'm proud to have served as a councillor and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament – and to have served local people for over 40 years. I have enjoyed the opportunity to help influence and shape the changes we need to see from the council's Labour administration. I always encourage everyone who tells me they wish to be a politician to get involved and to go for it. Being a politician is not an easy task, it requires sacrifice and intense scrutiny, it requires hard work like any other role, but it is incredibly rewarding to serve local people and I am proud to have had the chance to do just that."


Personal life

Lyle and his wife, Marion have two children, Vincent and Marina. Marina is also a former councillor for the Bellshill ward, replacing her father in 2012 and serving until 2017.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyle, Richard 1950 births Living people People educated at Bellshill Academy Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 NatWest Group people Scottish National Party councillors Councillors in North Lanarkshire Politicians from North Lanarkshire