Nicol Stephen
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| Nicol Stephen | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 23rd June, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Jim Wallace |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | June 30, 1960 (age 46) Aberdeen |
| Constituency | Aberdeen South |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Nicol Ross Stephen (born 23 March 1960) is the Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen South.
Stephen became an MSP in the first elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, later holding Deputy Minister positions for: Enterprise and Lifelong Learning; Education, Europe and External Affairs; and Education and Young, followed by a cabinet position as Minister for Transport in the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition. He became Deputy First Minister upon the resignation of his predecessor Jim Wallace in 2005, and will lead his party in the 2007 election.
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[edit] Background and family life
Born in Aberdeen[1], he was educated at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen and at the University of Aberdeen, where he obtained an LLB in 1980. He then took his Diploma in Legal Practice at Edinburgh University and worked for a number of years as a solicitor before moving into corporate finance as a senior manager with Deloitte & Touche.
He was a former Chair of CREATE (a group campaigning for rail electrification between Aberdeen and Edinburgh); a chairperson of STAR (Save Tor-na-Dee Hospital and Roxburghe House); and the founder and director of Grampian Enterprise.
He is married with 3 children.[2]
[edit] Early politcal career
He was elected to Grampian Regional Council in 1982 (as Scotland's youngest councillor) and was Chair of Grampian's Economic and Planning Committee from 1986 to 1991.
He was briefly a Member of Parliament for the Kincardine and Deeside constituency, elected in the November 1991 by-election following the death of Conservative and Unionist Alick Buchanan-Smith. He was a member of the Liberal Democrat treasury team and spokesperson on small business during his time in the House of Commons. The seat returned to the Conservative and Unionists at the 1992 general election, when it was won by George Kynoch.
He later stood for the Aberdeen South constituency in the 1997 election for Aberdeen South, but was defeated by the Scottish Labour candidate.[3]
[edit] Scottish Parliament
[edit] Minister and Deputy Minister roles
Stephen was elected as MSP for Aberdeen South in the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. He later helped negotiate the Partnership Agreements for the coalition government with the Labour Party.[4]
He later served in the Scottish Executive as Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning[5] (1999 to 2000), then as Deputy Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs (2000 to 2001)[6], and as Deputy Minister for Education and Young People (2001 - 2003).
Following the 2003 election, he was appointed Minister for Transport. During his time in this post, he was responsbile for approving the controversial M74 extension.[7].
[edit] Deputy First Minister
Following the resignation of Jim Wallace in May 2005 as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Stephen announced his intention to stand for the leadership.[8] He defeated rival candidate, Mike Rumbles, who advocated ending the coalition agreement with the Scottish Labour Party, winning 76.6%, becoming the Deputy First Minister on June 23, 2005.[9] Following his leadership victory, a mini reshuffle of the Scottish cabinet, saw him take on the role of Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ Strathclyde University- Scottish Parliamentary Election Candidate Materials 2003
- ^ Scottish Parliament- biography
- ^ Guardian Unlimited- Nicol Stephen
- ^ Scotland.gov.uk- Deputy First Minister
- ^ BBC News- "Scottish junior ministers named "
- ^ BBC News- "Cabinet reshuffle - the full line-up"
- ^ Scotsman.com- "M74 link driven past green lobby"
- ^ BBC News- "Stephen to stand for leadership"
- ^ BBC News- "Lib Dems choose Stephen as leader"
- ^ BBC News- "Reshuffle reveals cabinet line-up"/
[edit] External links
- Nicol Stephen MSP official biography at the Scottish Parliament website
- Scottish Executive
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alick Buchanan-Smith |
Member of Parliament for Kincardine and Deeside 1991–1992 |
Succeeded by George Kynoch |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Jim Wallace |
Deputy First Minister of Scotland 2005 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Michael Martin |
Order of precedence in Scotland | Succeeded by George Reid |
Jack McConnell (First Minister) · Nicol Stephen (Deputy First Minister and Enterprise and Lifelong Learning)
Cathy Jamieson (Justice) · Andy Kerr (Health and Community Care) · Hugh Henry (Education and Young People) · Tom McCabe (Finance and Public Sector Reform) · Ross Finnie (Environment and Rural Development) · Rhona Brankin (Communities) · Margaret Curran (Parliamentary Business) · Patricia Ferguson (Tourism, Culture and Sport) · Tavish Scott (Transport and Telecommunication)
Jim Wallace · Nicol Stephen
Scottish Labour Party: Jack McConnell • Scottish National Party: Nicola Sturgeon • Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party: Annabel Goldie • Scottish Liberal Democrats: Nicol Stephen • Scottish Green Party: Shiona Baird & Robin Harper • Scottish Socialist Party: Colin Fox • Solidarity: Tommy Sheridan • Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party: John Swinburne
Categories: Ministers of the Scottish Executive | 1960 births | Living people | Alumni of the University of Aberdeen | Alumni of the University of Edinburgh | Councillors in Scotland | Deputy First Ministers of Scotland | Leaders of political parties in Scotland | Liberal Democrat MPs (UK) | Liberal Democrat MSPs | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from Scottish constituencies | People from Aberdeen | Robert Gordon's College alumni | Scottish solicitors | UK MPs 1987-1992
