Pete Wishart

This article is about the Scottish MP and musician. For the English composer, see Peter Wishart (composer).
Pete Wishart
Wishart in 2012
Member of Parliament
for Perth and North Perthshire
Tayside North (2001-2005)
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 June 2001
Preceded by John Swinney
Majority 4,379 (9.1%)
Personal details
Born 9 March 1962
Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Nationality Scottish
Political party Scottish National Party
Relations Married
Children One son
Profession Musician, community worker
Website www.petewishartmp.com
Pete Wishart
Born 9 March 1962
Origin Scotland
Instruments Keyboards
Years active 1981–present
Associated acts Big Country
Runrig
MP4

Peter "Pete" Wishart (born 9 March 1962) is the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Perth and North Perthshire. He was the SNP Chief Whip at Westminster from 2001–2007 and is currently the party's Westminster Spokesperson for the Constitution, Home Affairs, Culture, Media and Sport and International Development.

Wishart is also a former member of Celtic rock band Runrig.

Background

Born in Dunfermline in 1962, Wishart was educated at Queen Anne High School Dunfermline and Moray House College, Edinburgh. Wishart lives in Perth and has one son and enjoys walking in the Perthshire hills. Wishart is a trained Community Worker and has been a Director of the Fast Forward charity that promotes healthy lifestyles for young people. He was a member of the Scotland Against Drugs Campaign Committee and has contributed to many national forums looking at the problem of drugs within Scottish society.

Wishart was for 15 years a member of the Scottish group Runrig, and was the first MP to have appeared on the TV show Top of the Pops. Before Runrig, he had been in one of the lineups of Big Country. Donnie Munro, former lead singer of Runrig was to go on to an unsuccessful political career as a Labour party candidate. Wishart is a founder member of the parliamentary rock group MP4. The other members are Ian Cawsey (bass guitar and vocals), Greg Knight MP (drums) and Kevin Brennan MP (lead guitar and vocals).

House of Commons

He was first elected to the House of Commons at the 2001 general election, taking John Swinney's old seat of Tayside North. Since arriving at Westminster, he has served as the SNP's Chief Whip, in which role he has pressed the government for greater parliamentary rights, such as better representation on committees, for both the SNP and other minority parties. He has also campaigned for copyright term extension and is a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group.

In the light of the reduction in the number of Scottish MPs at Westminster, Wishart's former constituency was abolished in a radical boundary revision, and at the 2005 election he won the new constituency of Perth and North Perthshire for the SNP with a majority of 1,521 over the Conservatives. The Perth and North Perthshire seat was created after boundary changes in Scotland and takes in East and Highland Perthshire, the City of Perth and the Carse of Gowrie. Wishart sat on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee.

In November 2010, Wishart suggested that Scottish football referees should declare which club sides they support.[1]

In January 2015, Wishart secured and started a debate on the reform of the House of Lords.[2]

Politically, he is well known for campaigning to demolish Perth's listed City Hall, dating from 1911, and replace it with an open square. He has described the building as 'unused, unloved and increasingly unwelcome', 'a building whose time has past', and said that, “A city square will allow us to attract visitors, grow our cafe quarter, put on outdoor events and properly organise civic and community events. Every city needs civic space and we must ensure that we will soon have ours.”[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "MP wants Scottish referees to declare club allegiance". BBC Sport. 16 November 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  2. ↑ Sheridan, Craig (16 January 2015). "Pete Wishart: The Gold-Plated Red Upholstered Narnia". Scottish Statesman. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Wishart, Pete. "Blog post". Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Burdge, Richars. "MP brands Perth City Hall move ‘futile’". The Courier. Retrieved 28 January 2015.

External links

Profiles
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Swinney		 Member of Parliament for North Tayside
2001 – 2005 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Perth and North Perthshire
2005 – present 		Incumbent