Richard Lochhead
Richard Neilson Lochhead (born
May 24,
1969) is a
Scottish politician and
Scottish National Party (SNP)
Member of the Scottish Parliament for
Moray. He was an MSP for
North East Scotland from the
1999 election and re-elected at the
2003 election, but resigned in March 2006 in order to fight the
Moray by-election.A native of
Paisley, Lochhead graduated in politics from the
University of Stirling. He worked for the SNP leader,
Alex Salmond, as his Office Manager in
1994-
1998. He was the SNP candidate in
Gordon in the
1997 UK General Election, where he finished third. He subsequently fought the
Aberdeen Central constituency in both 1999 and 2003, but came second to
Lewis Macdonald each time.
He is a former
convener of the European and External Relations Committee of the
Scottish Parliament. He currently holds the SNP's portfolios on Environment, Energy, Fishing and Rural Affairs in the Scottish Parliament.
Lochhead is married to Fiona, and they live in
Aberdeenshire with their young son Angus. They have recently bought a home in
Elgin.
On
2 April 2006 he was selected as the SNP candidate for the
Moray by-election, 2006. In January 2006 he had already been selected as the SNP candidate for
Moray for the
2007 Scottish Parliament elections, following the announcement that
Margaret Ewing MSP would be retiring. He beat Margaret Ewing's sister-in-law, former
MP Annabelle Ewing in the selection.
He resigned his regional seat on
7 April 2006, before his nomination as a by-election candidate. The by-election was held on 27th April 2006, and Richard Lochhead was returned as MSP for Moray on an increased majority, with a greater number of votes and a greater share of the vote compared with 2003. This was notable for the fact that it was the first time since the war that an incumbent party had retained a by-election seat without losing votes or having their majority or share of the vote lowered.
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Richard Lochhead MSP on the Scottish Parliament website
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SNP Select Lochhead for Moray By-Election, SNP press release, 2 April, 2006
