Bill Grant | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock | |
In office 8 June 2017 –6 November 2019 | |
Preceded by | Corri Wilson |
Succeeded by | Allan Dorans |
Councillor for Ayr West,South Ayrshire | |
In office 3 May 2007 – 4 May 2017 | |
Personal details | |
Born | William Grant 14 August 1951 Glasgow,Scotland,UK[ citation needed ] |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Agnes Grant |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh [ citation needed ] |
William Grant (born 14 August 1951) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock UK Parliamentary constituency from June 2017 to November 2019. [1]
A miner's son,Grant was raised in Rankinston in Doon Valley,East Ayrshire,and educated at Littlemill Primary in northern Rankinston and Cumnock Academy.
After his education,Grant moved to Ayr and worked in the fire brigade for 31 years,retiring as a deputy commander in the Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service. He served as a justice of the peace for ten years on Ayr District Court.
Bill Grant was first elected as a Conservative councillor on South Ayrshire Council at the 2007 Council elections,being elected to serve as one of four councillors in the Ayr West ward with more First Preference votes than any other candidate in the ward at 2,176 votes (30.3%),taking more votes than fellow Conservatives Robin Reid and Alistair Kerr. [2] He was re-elected in the 2012 Council elections with 1,992 First Preference votes (33.8%),again with more First Preference votes than any other candidate,including fellow Conservative Robin Reid. [3]
Grant stood as the Scottish Conservative Party candidate in Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock at the 2010 UK general election,coming in second place behind Labour's Sandra Osborne with a total of 11,721 votes (25.5%),an increase of 2.4% from the previous election of 2005. [4] He successfully gained the seat for the Conservatives at the 2017 general election from the SNP's Corri Wilson,taking 18,550 votes (40.1%) ahead of the SNP's Corri Wilson on 15,776 votes (34.1%),with a 2,774 vote (6.0%) majority,on a 17.5% swing from the SNP to the Conservatives. [5]
Grant made his maiden speech to the UK House of Commons on 3 July 2017. [6] In his first year in office as an MP,Bill Grant spoke in 89 debates and voted in 266 out of 284 votes (93.7%) in the Parliament,well above average amongst MPs. [7] During this period,Bill Grant only rebelled against his party once in the appointment of Sir Ian Kennedy as Electoral Commissioner. [8]
Grant was a proponent for the United Kingdom remaining a member of the European Union during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. He subsequently declared his support of Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiated Brexit settlement provided that assurances were made on the issue of the Northern Irish backstop and UK fishing rights. [9]
In 2017 and 2018,Grant was twice caught sleeping in the House of Commons for which he was dubbed "Sleep-gate MP" in the local press. First,in December 2017,Grant appeared to have fallen asleep during a debate on pensions equality for women however,he claimed he was "listening intently". Then,in July 2018,during questions to the then Secretary of State for Housing,Communities and Local Government,James Brokenshire,Grant was again caught asleep but this time admitted that he had taken "a wee nap" and was "guilty as charged". [10] [11] [12]
Grant announced in September 2019 that he would not contest the 2019 general election. The Conservatives ended up losing Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock to the SNP at that general election. [13]
Grant is a member of the Kyle and Carrick Civic Society,the Alloway Rotary,the Ayr Classic Motorcycle Club and the Ayr Building Preservation Trust. He is a keen DIY,gardening and motorcycling enthusiast. [14] [15]
During his time as a councillor for Ayr West,Bill Grant was well known to be found picking up litter in Ayr over the weekends. [16] In March 2018,Bill Grant performed a citizens arrest in Bridges Bar,Ayr,while out for a drink against a man responsible for physically assaulting the landlord of the pub. [16]
Ayr is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh,today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council,and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population of 46,982,Ayr is the 15th largest settlement in Scotland and second largest town in Ayrshire by population. The town is contiguous with the smaller town of Prestwick to the north. Ayr submitted unsuccessful bids for city status in 2000 and 2002,and as part of the wider South Ayrshire area in 2022.
Cumnock is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire,Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie just outside the town boundaries,Craigens,Logan and Netherthird,with the former ironworks settlement of Lugar also just outside the town,contributing to a population of around 13,000 in the immediate locale. A new housing development,Knockroon,was granted planning permission on 9 December 2009 by East Ayrshire Council.
Sandra Currie Osborne is a Scottish Labour politician,who was the Member of Parliament for Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock from the 2005 to 2015 general elections. She was first elected as MP for the Ayr constituency in 1997,and resigned from a government job in 2003 over the Iraq War. She was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2013. She was a member of the Defence Select Committee 2010-13 and was a member of the Council of Europe.
Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from parts of the old Ayr and Carrick,Cumnock and Doon Valley constituencies. It has been represented since 2024 by Elaine Stewart of Scottish Labour.
Central Ayrshire is a constituency of the British House of Commons,located in the south-west of Scotland within the North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
Ayr was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Ayr is a burgh constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the town of Ayr in the council area of South Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) via the plurality electoral system. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region which elects seven additional members to the Scottish Parliament via a proportional electoral system known as the Additional Members System which allows for greater accuracy in representation for the region as a whole.
Carrick,Cumnock and Doon Valley is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood,covering parts of the council areas of South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also,it is one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region,which elects seven additional members,in addition to the nine constituency MSPs,to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Carrick,Cumnock and Doon Valley was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. Half of the constituency was incorporated into the new Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock constituency,with the remainder incorporated into the new Central Ayrshire constituency and the expanded Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.
Doonfoot is a suburb in the south-west of Ayr,South Ayrshire.
Charles Gilchrist Brodie,better known as Chic Brodie,was a Scottish politician. He served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2011 until 2016.
Elections to East Ayrshire Council were held on 3 May 2012,the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election is the second using 9 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004,each ward elected three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation. The new wards replaced 32 single-member wards which used the plurality system of election.
The 2012 South Ayrshire Council election took place on 3 May 2012 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections,it was held using single transferable vote (STV) –a form of proportional representation –in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Alan Brown is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kilmarnock and Loudoun from 2015 until 2024. Brown previously served as the SNP spokesperson on Energy Security and Net Zero (2022–2023),Energy and Climate Change (2020–2022),Transport (2017–2020) and Infrastructure and Energy (2017–2018) in the House of Commons.
Corraine Wilson is a Scottish politician who served as the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock from 2015 to 2017.
The 2017 South Ayrshire Council election took place on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections,it was held using single transferable vote (STV) –a form of proportional representation –in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Allan Hopkins Dorans is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr,Carrick and Cumnock from 2019 until his eventual electoral defeat at the 2024 general election.
Elections to East Ayrshire Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections,it was held using single transferable vote (STV) –a form of proportional representation –in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Elections to South Ayrshire Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections,it was held using single transferable vote (STV) –a form of proportional representation –in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Ayr East is one of the eight electoral wards of South Ayrshire Council. Originally a four-member ward,Ayr East was reduced in size following a boundary review and has elected three councillors since the 2017 South Ayrshire Council election.