Gil Paterson

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Gil Paterson, born in Glasgow, 1942 is a former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland. Brought up in the North of Glasgow, Paterson attended Possilpark Secondary School, before building up his own business Gil's Motor Factors.

He served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) councillor in Strathclyde Regional Council and sat on the SNP's National Executive Committee, before being elected as one of five SNP MSPs for Central Scotland in the first election to the Scottish Parliament. During the first parliamentary term he sat on both the Local Government and Procedures committees in the Parliament.

Paterson lost his seat in Parliament when at the 2003 election only three SNP MSPs were returned for Central Scotland. He returned to running his business but stayed active in the SNP, becoming the party's Vice-Convenor in charge of Fundraising, a position he had held previously.

Paterson was one of the heaviest critics of the leadership style of John Swinney, and in the aftermath of the 2004 European election he openly called for Swinney's resignation, which happened shortly afterwards.

In 2006, Gil Paterson was elected to stand as candidate for the Clydebank and Milngavie Scottish Parliamentary constituency.