Richard Simpson (politician)

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Richard Simpson MSP

Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 May 2007
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ochil
In office 6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Succeeded by	George Reid
Personal details
Born	22 October 1942 (age 71–72) Edinburgh
Political party	Scottish Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Christine Simpson
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Occupation	Psychiatrist
Religion	Church of Scotland^[1]
Website	www.richardsimpsonmsp.com

Richard Simpson (born 1942, Edinburgh) is a Scottish Labour politician, and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Ochil constituency from 1999 to 2003 and a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Mid-Scotland and Fife region as of the 2007 election. He is a member of Unite.

Medical career

Simpson was educated at Perth Academy, Trinity College Glenalmond, and the University of Edinburgh.^[2]

A GP and psychiatrist prior to his election, Dr Simpson is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. He was also a former associate member of the British Association of Urological Surgeons and a member of the faculty's working group on Prostate Cancer.

He was a founding member and Chair of the Strathcarron Hospice, Denny.

Between 2003 and 2007 he worked within Addiction medicine, first within Glasgow then as Consultant Psychiatrist in charge of the Drug Addiction Team of West Lothian.

Scottish Parliament

Simpson is the current Deputy Party Spokesperson on Health for the Labour Party. In the 2007 parliament he was the Labour lead on the Health and Wellbeing Committee and also Co-Convener of the Cross-Party Groups in the Scottish Parliament on Drug and Alcohol Misuse and on Mental Health, and a Member of the Cross-Party Groups in the Scottish Parliament on Epilepsy, Golf, Palestine, Tobacco Control and Visual Impairment.

Simpson's campaigns include 'Save Waterwatch', ^[3] the undergrounding of the electricity line from Beauly to Denny ^[4] and stop the running of night trains on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line. ^[5]^[6]^[7] He was also central to the dropping of the SNP bid to allow local licensing boards to ban under 21 alcohol sales, stating that this would discriminate against young people who were responsible drinkers. ^[8]

Simpson was elected in 1999 as the first MSP for Ochil. He was made the deputy Justice minister when Jack McConnell became First Minister in 2001. As a Minister, Dr Simpson launched the Scotland's People genealogy web page in 2002.^[9] He resigned in November 2002 after allegedly using the words "fascist bastards" in connection with striking firefighters. He admitted using the words but claimed that he was quoting a member of the public.^[10]

Simpson was returned to the Scottish Parliament in 2007 as third on the Labour Regional list for Mid Scotland and Fife. At the election on May 5th 2011, he was once again returned to Holyrood as a regional MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife.

References

↑
↑ "Personal Information: Richard Simpson". Scottish Parliament website. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
↑ News. Save Waterwatch. Retrieved on 2011-03-18.
↑ News. Stirling Before Pylons. Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
↑ Night freight trains were always planned / News / Roundup / Articles / Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser. Alloaadvertiser.com (2011-02-02). Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
↑ Inquiry plea after night-train noise breaks health guideline – Herald Scotland | News | Transport & Environment. Herald Scotland (2010-08-17). Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
↑ Broomridge Community Council – The Trains. Broomridgecommunitycouncil.org. Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
↑ BBC News – Alcohol age rise plan rejected. Bbc.co.uk (2010-09-29). Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
↑ General Register Office for Scotland – Simpson launches new website for genealogy enthusiasts. Gro-scotland.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2011-02-16.
↑

External links

Scottish Parliament
New constituency	Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ochil 1999–2003	Succeeded by George Reid
Political offices
Preceded by Iain Gray	Deputy Minister for Justice 2001–2002	Succeeded by Hugh Henry

v t e Members of the Scottish Parliament in the Mid Scotland and Fife region

Elected in the 2011 election

Constituency MSPs	Keith Brown (SNP, Clackmannanshire and Dunblane) Helen Eadie (Lab, Cowdenbeath) Vacant (Dunfermline) Tricia Marwick (PO, Fife Mid and Glenrothes) Roderick Campbell (SNP, Fife North East) David Torrance (SNP, Kirkcaldy) John Swinney (SNP, Perthshire North) Roseanna Cunningham (SNP, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire) Bruce Crawford (SNP, Stirling)

Additional members	Claire Baker (Lab) Murdo Fraser (Con) Annabelle Ewing (SNP) John Park (Lab) Willie Rennie (Lib Dem) Richard Simpson (Lab) Elizabeth Smith (Con)

SNP (8 seats), Labour (4 seats), Conservative (2 seats), Lib Dems (1 seat); Presiding Officer (1 seat)

Scottish Labour Party

Headquarters: Transport House, 290 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4RE

Leaders

Donald Dewar (1999–2000)
Henry McLeish (2000–2001)
Jack McConnell (2001–2007)
Wendy Alexander (2007–2008)
Iain Gray (2008–2011)
Johann Lamont (2011–)

Deputy Leaders

Henry McLeish (1999–2000)
Cathy Jamieson (2000–2008)
Johann Lamont (2008–2011)
Anas Sarwar (2011–)

General Secretaries

Jack McConnell (1992–1998)
Alex Rowley (1998–1999)
Lesley Quinn (1999–2008)
Colin Smyth (2008–2013)
Ian Price (2013–)

MSP Group

Shadow cabinet	Johann Lamont (leader) Iain Gray (finance) Graeme Pearson (justice) Neil Findlay (health) Kezia Dugdale (education) James Kelly (infrastructure) Sarah Boyack (local government) Claire Baker (rural) Patricia Ferguson (culture) Drew Smith (constitution) Jackie Baillie (social justice) Paul Martin (parliamentary business and chief of staff) Lewis Macdonald (chief whip) Richard Baker (party policy review) Jenny Marra (youth employment and finance)

Deputy spokespersons	Claudia Beamish (environment/climate change) Neil Bibby (education) Mary Fee (housing) Rhoda Grant (wellbeing) Elaine Murray (community safety) Richard Simpson (public health)

Backbenchers	Jayne Baxter Malcolm Chisholm Hugh Henry Cara Hilton Mark Griffin Ken Macintosh Hanzala Malik Margaret McCulloch (deputy whip) Margaret McDougall Michael McMahon Siobhan McMahon Duncan McNeil Anne McTaggart John Pentland (deputy whip) Alex Rowley Elaine Smith David Stewart

MP Group

Shadow cabinet	Douglas Alexander Margaret Curran Jim Murphy

Shadow ministers	Gordon Banks Russell Brown Thomas Docherty Gemma Doyle Tom Greatrex Cathy Jamieson Gregg McClymont Ian Murray

Backbenchers	Willie Bain Anne Begg Gordon Brown Katy Clark Tom Clarke Michael Connarty Alistair Darling Ian Davidson Brian Donohoe Frank Doran Sheila Gilmore David Hamilton Tom Harris Jimmy Hood Eric Joyce Mark Lazarowicz Michael McCann James McGovern Anne McGuire Ann McKechin Iain McKenzie Graeme Morrice Pamela Nash Fiona O'Donnell Sandra Osborne John Robertson Frank Roy Lindsay Roy Anas Sarwar James Sheridan

MEP Group

Organisation

Scottish Executive Committee
Scottish Labour Conference
Scottish Policy Forum
Scottish Trade Union Labour Party Committee
Scottish Labour Students
Scottish Young Labour
Campaign for Socialism Group
Review of the Labour Party in Scotland
History

In Government

First
Second

Persondata
Name	Simpson, Richard
Alternative names
Short description	British politician
Date of birth	1942
Place of birth	Edinburgh
Date of death
Place of death

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