Richard Thomson (politician)
{{short description|Scottish SNP politician, MP for Gordon}}
{{other people|Richard Thomson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Richard Thomson
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Official portrait of Richard Thomson MP crop 2.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 2019
| office = SNP Spokesperson for Business and Trade in the House of Commons{{efn|SNP Spokesperson for International Trade from 10 December 2022 to 4 September 2023}}
| leader = Stephen Flynn
| term_start = 10 December 2022
| term_end = 5 July 2024
| predecessor = Drew Hendry
| successor = Office Not in Use
| office1 = SNP Spokesperson for Northern Ireland in the House of Commons
| parliament1 =
| leader1 = Ian Blackford
Stephen Flynn
| predecessor1 = Kirsten Oswald
| successor1 =
| term_start1 = 1 February 2022
| term_end1 = 5 July 2024
| birth_name = Richard Gordon Thomson{{London Gazette |issue=28275 |date=20 December 2019 |page=2192 |city=e}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1976|06|16}}
| birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Scottish
| residence = Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
| spouse =
| party = Scottish National Party
| children =
| education = University of Stirling
Edinburgh Business School
| religion =
| website =
| office3 = Member of Parliament
for Gordon
| predecessor3 = Colin Clark
| term_start3 = 12 December 2019
| term_end3 = 30 May 2024
| successor3 = Constituency abolished
}}
Richard Gordon Thomson (born 16 June 1976) is a Scottish politician. He is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gordon from 2019 until the seat's abolition in 2024.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/S14000037 |title=Gordon parliamentary constituency – Election 2019 – BBC News |website=BBC News}}{{cite news |last1=Gossip |first1=Alastair |title=General Election 2019: Gordon elects fourth MP in as many elections |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/westminster/1912248/general-election-2019-gordon-elects-fourth-mp-in-as-many-elections/ |accessdate=13 December 2019 |work=Press and Journal}}{{Cite web |title=Thomson, Richard Gordon, (born 16 June 1976), MP (SNP) Gordon, since 2019 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-293936|access-date=2021-05-01|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2020|language=en|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293936|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4}} He was also previously the leader of the SNP group on Aberdeenshire Council. He was the SNP Spokesperson for Business and Trade from 2022,{{Cite news |date=2023-09-04 |title=SNP announces frontbench reshuffle at Westminster |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-66707392 |access-date=2023-09-10}} and SNP Spokesperson for Wales and Northern Ireland until 2024.{{Cite web |last=SNP |first=the |date=2022-12-10 |title=The real opposition: meet your new SNP Westminster Frontbench |url=https://www.snp.org/snp-westminster-frontbench-team/ |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=Scottish National Party |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Richard Thomson – Parliamentary Career |url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/4796/career |access-date=11 December 2022}}
Early life and education
Thomson was born in Edinburgh in 1976, the son of Alexander and Ethel Thomson.
He was educated at Tynecastle High School, Edinburgh, before going to the University of Stirling to study History and Politics. He gained a BA (Hons) in 1998. He is presently studying part-time for an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/6/66638.stm |title=Vote 2001: Candidate Richard Thomson |date=2001 |website=BBC News}}
Career
He worked for Scottish Widows in Edinburgh from 1999 to 2004, firstly as an Assistant Manager in their Customer Relations Department, and latterly as an Account Manager in Corporate Pensions.
He contributed a chapter exploring the 'social democratisation of the SNP' to a book on post-devolution politics called Breaking Up Britain – Four Nations After a Union, published in 2009 by Lawrence & Wishart.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lwbooks.co.uk/books/archive/Breaking_up_Britain_Intro.pdf|title=Books|website=Lawrence & Wishart}}
Since 2017, he has been Deputy Editor of The Scottish Independent newspaper.
Political career
In 2001, he unsuccessfully contested the Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale constituency, a safe seat for the Liberal Democrats in which Thomson came fourth with 4,108 votes (12.4%). Thomson was former Head of Campaigns for the Scottish National Party from 2004 to 2005, and the party's Westminster Head of Research, before returning to Aberdeenshire in the summer of 2008 to work for First Minister Alex Salmond.{{Cite web|url=http://waleshome.org/author/richard-thomson/|title=Richard Thomson — WalesHome.org|date=11 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111052003/http://waleshome.org/author/richard-thomson/|archive-date=11 January 2011}} Thomson was Parliamentary Assistant to Salmond from 2008 to 2011.
He worked as a senior researcher to MSP Shona Robison and MP Stewart Hosie from 2000 to 2007. In 2010, he stood in Gordon: the Liberal Democrat Malcolm Bruce retained his seat, but Thomson took the SNP into second place.
Thomson was on Aberdeenshire Council from 2012 to 2020.{{cite news |last1=McVey |first1=Rebekah |title=Gordon MP stands down from role as Aberdeenshire councillor |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/north-east/2169445/gordon-mp-stands-down-from-role-as-aberdeenshire-councillor/ |access-date=30 May 2021 |work=The Press and Journal |date=24 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210530002556/https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/north-east/2169445/gordon-mp-stands-down-from-role-as-aberdeenshire-councillor/ |archive-date=30 May 2021 |location=Aberdeen}} He was leader of Aberdeenshire Council from June 2015 until May 2017, and Opposition Leader from 2017 to 2020. He represented the council on the North Sea Commission, where he was vice-chair of the Marine Resources Group.{{cite news |title=Richard to contest Gordon seat |url=https://www.ellontimes.co.uk/news/people/richard-to-contest-gordon-seat-1-5033244 |newspaper=Ellon Times |location=Ellon, Aberdeenshire |date=25 October 2019 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210530005653/https://www.ellontimes.co.uk/news/people/richard-contest-gordon-seat-2024853 |archive-date=30 May 2021}}
He was selected to contest the Gordon constituency for the second time at the 2019 general election. During the campaign he claimed, "A vote for me.. is not a vote for Scottish independence and I will never, ever, try and claim it as such."{{cite news |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18107434.nicola-sturgeon-urges-unity-among-parties-new-independence-referendum/ |title=Nicola Sturgeon urges unity among parties on new independence referendum |date=17 December 2019 |first=Tom |last=Gordon |newspaper=The Herald |location=Glasgow |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210530010026/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18107434.nicola-sturgeon-urges-unity-among-parties-new-independence-referendum/ |archive-date=30 May 2021}} He narrowly won the seat from the Conservative incumbent Colin Clark, with a slim majority of 819 votes (1.4%).{{cite web |title=UK Parliamentary Election: Declaration of Results: GORDON Constituency |url=https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/media/24905/declaration-of-result-gordon.pdf |date=12 December 2019 |website=Aberdeenshire Council |first=Jim |last=Savege |access-date=30 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410160636/https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/media/24905/declaration-of-result-gordon.pdf |archive-date=10 April 2021}}
In March 2020, Thomson resigned from Aberdeenshire Council to "concentrate 100% on being the MP for the Gordon Constituency".
In 2023, when questioned about Inverurie's largest medical practice not renewing its NHS contract due to recruitment issues, Thomson said he "would do everything" he could "to attract doctors to the constituency".
In the 2024 general election, he contested Gordon and Buchan but was defeated by Harriet Cross.{{Cite news |title=Gordon and Buchan – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/S14000091 |access-date=2024-07-06 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
Personal life
Thomson lives in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.{{cite news |last1=Nixon |first1=Jack |title=Former Ellon Times reporter makes it to Westminster |url=https://www.ellontimes.co.uk/news/people/former-ellon-times-reporter-makes-it-westminster-2014176 |location=Ellon, Aberdeenshire |access-date=30 May 2021 |work=Ellon Times |date=13 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210530003930/https://www.ellontimes.co.uk/news/people/former-ellon-times-reporter-makes-it-westminster-2014176 |archive-date=30 May 2021}} His partner is Eilidh Mackechnie; the couple have two daughters.
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{reflist|35em}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{UK MP links |parliament=4796 |publicwhip=Richard_Gordon_Thomson |theywork=richard_gordon_thomson}}
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/07/scottish-independence-devolution An ever closer sovereignty?] – The SNP referendum strategy allows Scottish Labour supporters to vote for independence, taking the idea out of the abstract
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{{s-bef|before=Colin Clark}}
{{s-ttl|
|title=Member of Parliament for Gordon
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{{s-non |reason=Constituency abolished |reason2=Equivalent seat Gordon and Buchan
won by Harriet Cross }}
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{{Former SNP MPs|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Politics|Scotland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Richard}}
Category:Scottish National Party councillors
Category:Scottish National Party MPs
Category:Alumni of the University of Stirling
Category:Alumni of Heriot-Watt University
Category:Councillors in Aberdeenshire
Category:Leaders of local authorities of Scotland