Rob Gibson

{{Short description|Scottish politician (born 1945)}}

{{similar names|Robert Gibson (disambiguation){{!}}Robert Gibson}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Rob Gibson

| image = RobGibsonMSP20110510.JPG

| imagesize = 220px

| caption = Gibson in 2011

| office = Convener of the Rural Affairs, Environment and Climate Change Committee

| term_start = 15 June 2011

| term_end = 23 March 2016

| predecessor = Maureen Watt

| office2 = Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross

| term_start2 = 5 May 2011

| term_end2 = 24 March 2016

| predecessor2 = Jamie Stone

| successor2 = Gail Ross

| office3 = Member of the Scottish Parliament
Highlands and Islands
{{nobold|(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)}}

| term_start3 = 1 May 2003

| term_end3 = 5 May 2011

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|10|10|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland

| death_date =

| nationality = Scottish

| party = Scottish National Party

| partner = Eleanor Scott

| alma_mater = University of Dundee

| profession = Teacher

| website = http://www.robgibson.org/

| successor1 = Graeme Dey

| 1namedata = Tricia Marwick

| 1blankname = {{nowrap|Presiding Officer}}

}}

Robert McKay Gibson (born 10 October 1945) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 2003 until 2016, first as a Highlands and Islands regional member from 2003 until 2011, then representing the Caithness, Sutherland and Ross constituency from 2011 until 2016.

Early life

Gibson was born in Glasgow on 10 October 1945. He was educated at the University of Dundee, where he headed the SNP student wing, the Federation of Student Nationalists. He was a district councillor in Ross and Cromarty and worked as a senior secondary school teacher in Alness and Invergordon before taking early retirement in 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/23412/Rob-McKay-GIBSON|title=People of Today: Rob McKay Gibson|publisher=Debrett's|accessdate=11 May 2014}}{{dead link|date=November 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes }}

Political career

Gibson stood as SNP candidate for the Inverness seat in the February 1974 United Kingdom general election.{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13215148.SNP_MSP_becomes_the_second_to_depart_ahead_of_next_year_s_Holyrood_elections/|title=SNP MSP becomes the second to depart ahead of next year's Holyrood elections|work=Sunday Herald|date=24 May 2015|accessdate=14 November 2018}} In the early 1980s, he was a member of the SNP 79 Group. He stood as a candidate for Ross, Cromarty and Skye in 1987 and again in 1992.

Gibson was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in the 2003 election from the Highlands and Islands regional list,{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msps/30654.aspx|title=Previous MSPs: Session 2 (2003–2007): Rob Gibson|publisher=Scottish Parliament|accessdate=14 November 2018}} and was re-elected for this region in 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.scot/msps/26580.aspx|title=Previous MSPs: Session 3 (2007–2011): Rob Gibson|publisher=Scottish Parliament|accessdate=14 November 2018}}

During the fourth Scottish Parliament, he was the Convener of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msps/95896.aspx|title=Previous MSPs: Session 4 (2011–2016): Rob Gibson|publisher=Scottish Parliament|accessdate=14 November 2018}}

In 2012, the Scottish Renewables Green Energy Awards named him their Politician of the Year.{{cite news|url=https://www.holyrood.com/articles/interviews/green-winger|title=Green Winger|work=Holyrood|date=12 June 2014|accessdate=14 November 2018}}

In May 2015 he announced that he would not stand for re-election in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Personal life

His partner is the former Highlands and Islands MSP, Eleanor Scott, of the Scottish Greens; they have two children, a son and a daughter.{{Cite book|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-4000255|title=Scott, Eleanor Roberta|series=Who's who|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|language=en|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.4000255|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 }}

Gibson is also a musician and an author, and has written several books about Highland history and emigration. These include Plaids and Bandanas, The Highland Clearances Trail and Highland Cowboys.{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12763238.The_Wild_Drovers/|title=The Wild Drovers|work=The Herald|date=12 January 2007|accessdate=14 November 2018}}

Bibliography

  • The Promised Land?, Strollamus Crofers Defence Committee, January 1974
  • Left, Right, Left, Right...?, in Burnett, Ray (ed.), Calgacus 1, Winter 1975, pp. 14–16, {{issn|0307-2029}}
  • Cymraeg – a startling revival, Dafydd Iwan and Arfon Gwilym interviewed by Rob Gibson, in Burnett, Ray (ed.), Calgacus 3, Spring 1976, pp. 18–21, {{issn|0307-2029}}
  • review of The Break-up of Britain by Tom Nairn, in Easton, Norman (ed.), Crann-Tàra No. 1, Winter 1977, pp. 14 & 15
  • It's Scotland's Soil, in Easton, Norman (ed.), Crann-Tàra No. 2, Spring 1978, pp. 8 & 9
  • A Case for Producer Co-ops?, in Easton, Norman (ed.), Crann-Tàra No. 7, Summer 1979, pp. 3 & 14
  • Land to the People, 79 Group News, October 1981, Glasgow
  • Community Control: For Scottish Industry, in Dunn, Ian (ed.), Radical Scotland Summer '82, p. 21, {{issn|0262-6993}}
  • Mightier than a Landlord, in Lawson, Alan (ed.), Radical Scotland Feb/Mar 1990, pp. 22 & 23, {{issn|0262-6993}}
  • Toppling the Duke: Outrage on Ben Bhraggie?, Highland Heritage Books, 1996, {{isbn|9780950988252}}
  • contribution on Scottish National Party policies to Whose Party Line is it Anyway? General Election 1997, in Grant, Karen (ed.), Reforesting Scotland, Spring 1997,pp. 7–10, {{issn|0969-1367}}
  • "The Battle to Save the Arran Whitebeam, in Meikle, Mandy (ed.), Reforesting Scotland'' 31, Spring 2004, pp. 35 & 36, {{issn|0969-1367}}
  • The Highland Clearances Trail, Luath Press, 2007, {{isbn|9781905222100}}
  • Reclaiming Our Land, Highland Heritage Educational Trust, 2020, {{isbn|978-1-5272-8181-3}}

References

{{Reflist}}