Tavish Hamilton Scott (born 6 May 1966) is a former Scottish politician. He was 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 add ...

(MSP) for

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the n ...

from 1999 to 2019, and Leader of the

Scottish Liberal Democrats 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 of ...

from 2008 to 2011. He stepped down as Leader after 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 ...

, in which the Liberal Democrats were reduced to five seats, down from 16 in the previous parliament.

Background, education and early career

Scott was born on 6 May 1966 in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

, Scotland, he attended Anderson High School,

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

, Shetland and holds a BA (Hons) Business Studies from Napier College in Edinburgh. After graduating, he worked as a

parliamentary assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...

to Jim Wallace, then Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland, and later as a Press Officer for the

. He then returned to Shetland and became a farmer and also a councillor on

Shetland Islands Council The Shetland Islands Council ( sco, Shetland Islands Cooncil; gd, Comhairle Shealtainn) is the local authority for Shetland, Scotland. It was established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and is the successor to the former Lerwick Tow ...

and Chairman of the Lerwick Harbour Trust.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Scott was elected the first

for

in May 1999. He was also the first parliamentarian for the Shetland Islands as a distinct entity; up to that point there had only been a single UK parliamentary constituency for both Orkney and Shetland. He served as a Deputy Minister for Parliament in the Scottish Executive from 2000 to 2001 in succession to his colleague Iain Smith, but resigned after refusing to support the Executive in a vote in the Parliament on a tie-up scheme for fishing. In 2003, he returned to the Scottish Executive as Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services. During his time there his department piloted the Local Governance (Scotland) Act, which changed the elections for local authorities in Scotland to a

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

system. Following

Nicol Stephen Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen (born 23 March 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he ...

's election as party leader and succession as Deputy First Minister of Scotland in 2005, Scott was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Transport. He was re-elected with an increased majority in May 2007, and held the largest margin by percentage, 50.1%, of any MSP over their closest challenger. After the resignation of his friend and former ministerial colleague

, Scott declared his

candidacy Candidacy is a rite which takes place during Roman Catholic seminary formation, by which the Church recognizes the seminarian as worthy of being ordained (hence, they become a "candidate" for ordination to the priesthood). With the liturgical ref ...

for the leadership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats on 7 July 2008 at

harbour, surrounded by a group of men dressed as

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

which is a tradition in Shetland called Up Helly Aa where Shetlanders celebrate their Viking heritage. On 26 August 2008, he was announced the winner of the leadership contest with 59% (1,450) of the votes. Following what he described as a "disastrous" set of results for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the Scottish elections in May 2011, Scott offered his resignation as leader (remaining a Member of the Scottish Parliament). He claimed the poor showings were in part due to the coalition deal which saw the Liberal Democrats form a government with the

Conservatives 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 in ...

after the

2010 United Kingdom general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom und ...

. In the run-up to the

2014 Scottish Independence referendum A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" ...

, Scott was a keen advocate of a "No" vote as well as recognition that whatever the outcome of the referendum there ought to be a recognition of "Northern Isles’ right to determine their own future." At the Liberal Democrat party conference in 2013 put forward a motion with fellow MSP Liam McArthur to recognise the Islands had a "separate right to self-determination" Scott said that his preferred outcome was for Shetland to become a crown dependency of the UK with its own parliament, and was backed by the cross-party Wir Shetland movement that campaigns for crown dependency status. Scott announced in June 2019 that he would be resigning from the Scottish Parliament to take a position with the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

Career timeline

*1986–1989: Napier College *1989–1990: Parliamentary researcher to Jim Wallace MP for Orkney and Shetland, House of Commons *1990–1992: Press Officer,

, Edinburgh *1992–1999: Farmer,

family farm *1994–1999: Chairman and Trustee, Lerwick Harbour Trust *1994–1999: Councillor for

Harbour and

Bressay Bressay ( sco, Bressa) is a populated island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland. Geography and geology Bressay lies due south of Whalsay, west of the Isle of Noss, and north of Mousa. With an area of , it is the fifth-largest island in She ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

**Vice-chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee *1997–1999: Director, Shetland Islands Tourism *1999–2019:

for

*2000–2001: Deputy Minister for Scottish Parliament *2003–2005: Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Services and Parliamentary Business *2005–2007:

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

*2007–2008: Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth **Convenor of the Scottish Parliament's ''Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee'' *2008–2011:

Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a Liberalism, liberal, Federalism, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats (UK), Li ...

*2011–2019: Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesman for business and the economy

References

External links

*
Tavish Scott MSP
profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Tavish 1966 births Living people People from Inverness People educated at Anderson High School, Lerwick People from Shetland Alumni of Edinburgh Napier University Liberal Democrat 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 Leaders of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021