Andrew Wilson (politician)
| Andrew Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland | |
|
In office 6 May 1999 – 31 March 2003 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1970 (age 45–46) Lanark, South Lanarkshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Scottish National Party |
| Children | Three children |
| Residence | Edinburgh |
| Alma mater |
University of Strathclyde University of St. Andrews |
| Occupation | Economist, Communications |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
| Website | www.charlottestpartners.co.uk |
Andrew Wilson (born 1970 in Lanark, Scotland) is an economist and former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP).
Early life
Whilst attending the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, (from where he graduated in 1992 with a degree in economics and politics) he was elected Vice President of the Students Association and became National Convener of the Scottish National Party (SNP) student organisation, the Federation of Student Nationalists. He joined the Government Economic Service after graduation, serving with the Forestry Commission and Scottish Office, and in 1996 he started work at SNP Headquarters, Edinburgh, as a researcher to the Director of Business for Scotland, before entering employment with the Royal Bank of Scotland as a business economist in 1997.
Member of Scottish Parliament
Elected in first election to the newly re-established Scottish Parliament he was elected as one of five SNP MSPs to represent Central Scotland through the Additional Members System.[1]
Whilst an MSP he served variously in the Shadow Cabinet as the SNP Finance, Economy, Lifelong Learning and Transport Spokesperson. He was widely viewed by commentators as a rising star of the SNP, an iconoclast and pro-market economist he made much headway selling the idea of fiscal autonomy now called 'Devo-Max' to the mainstream business, media and society. It was adopted by The Scotsman, a unionist newspaper and later went on to win support across the political spectrum. He gave a controversial lecture at the party conference in 1999 promoting the idea Britishness could, should, and would survive independence. He later wrote a column for the Sunday Mail calling on Scots to support the English football team in the 2002 world cup finals. In policy he is credited with much of the work on the SNP's alternative to the Private Finance Initiative, now The Scottish Futures Trust. He also promoted the case for a Scottish Sovereign wealth fund using the proceeds of North Sea Oil.
In 2003 he came within 520 votes of unseating Cathie Craigie in the first past the post contest for the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth seat, but when only three SNP MSPs were returned from Central Scotland he lost his place as an MSP.
After parliament
Following political service he joined RBS Group working in a variety of roles including Deputy Chief Economist and since the 2008 crisis as Head of Group Communications.[2] He joined WPP in August 2012 working in a client facing role.[3]
He delivered the Donaldson Lecture at the 2013 SNP conference.[4]
In 2014 he launched a new strategic communications consultancy Charlotte Street Partners based in Edinburgh and London.[5] Along with co-founder Malcolm Robertson, he was identified as the top face to look out for in 2014.[6]
He is a Trustee of the John Smith Memorial Trust[7] and a member of the Public Policy Board at Glasgow University.[8] He is a former member of the Governing Board of the Scottish Crop Research Institute and between 2010 - 2015 he was a Director of Motherwell Football Club.[9][10] He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, a member of the Institute of Directors, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the David Hume Institute.[5]
He writes a weekly column in Scotland on Sunday and occasional opinion pieces for other newspapers including The Scotsman, The Times, The Telegraph and The Daily Record. He will be on the panel of judges for the Scottish Press Awards in 2015.[11]
He lives in Balerno, Edinburgh with his 3 children. He was part of a group that raised some money for charity, cycling under the name of the Balerno Dads.
References
- ↑ "Previous MSPs: Session 1 (1999-2003): Andrew Wilson". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- ↑ "Andrew Wilson joins Governing Board of SCRI". Scottish Crop Research Institute. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- ↑ Cartmell, Matt. "RBS Group's Andrew Wilson to take client-facing role at WPP". PRWeek. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- ↑
- 1 2 Murden, Terry (1 December 2013). "PR heavyweights unite to launch media consultancy". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- ↑ Murden, Terry (29 December 2013). "Faces to look out for in the year ahead". The Scotsman (Johnston Press). Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- ↑ "About us: Trust Board: Andrew Wilson". John Smith Memorial Trust. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ "About us: The Board". Policy Scotland (University of Glasgow). Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ Wilson, Andrew (1 March 2012). "Forging a brighter future". The Scotsman (Johnston Press). Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ "Club Statement: Takeover Complete" (Press release). Motherwell Football Club. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ↑ "Judges announced for Scottish Press Awards" (Press release). Scottish Newspaper Society. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.