Lloyd Quinan
| Lloyd Quinan | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Scottish Parliament for West of Scotland | |
| In office 6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edinburgh |
| Political party | None |
| Other political affiliations |
Scottish Independence Convention; Scottish CND |
Lloyd Quinan is a former member of the Scottish Parliament. Born and brought up in Edinburgh he joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1974. A trained actor, he was a member of the Equity Union, before pursuing a media career as a weatherman and freelance broadcaster. He was involved in the National Union of Journalists during this period.[1]
In the early 90's, Quinan worked as a weatherman for Scottish Television. Lloyd quit the station over a pay row in 1997.
In 1999 he was elected to represent the West of Scotland as an SNP candidate at the first Scottish Parliament election. During his time as an MSP, he was a member of the European Committee and the Audit Committee. He also served as Convener of the Cross Party Group on Autism in the Scottish Parliament, Vice-Convener of the Cross Party Group on Contemporary Music and was a member of the Cross Party Groups on Palestine and Cuba.
A naturally inclined left-winger, he supported Alex Neil's bid for leadership in 2000, acting as a campaign manager for Neil. At the 2003 Parliament election he decided to stand down from being a candidate in the West of Scotland, and sought nomination in his home city of Edinburgh. Failure to do so meant that he unsuccessfully contested the election as SNP candidate for Motherwell and Wishaw against the Labour candidate, First Minister Jack McConnell.
Lloyd is a political ally of Jim Sillars and Margo MacDonald and he shares Sillars current antipathy towards the EU.
Quinan eventually announced his decision to resign from the SNP and join the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) instead. However, he left the SSP in early 2005.
Lloyd is a strong supporter of the Basque and Palestine independence movements. During his time in the SNP and SSP, he sought to strengthen links between the parties and socialist independence supporters in the Basque country, Catalunya, Corsica and Sardinia. Quinan believes that other European independence movements are a strong organisational mode to follow for the independence movement in Scotland.
He is also a supporter of Independence First(a campaign for a referendum on independence for Scotland), the Scottish Independence Convention and Scottish CND.
A lifelong Hibernian F.C. supporter, he was a leading organiser in the 'Hands off Hibs' campaign.