Dave Thompson (Scottish politician)

Last updated

(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
Dave Thompson
DaveThompsonMSP20120629.jpg
Leader of Action for Independence
In office
15 July 2020 –14 April 2021
In office
3 May 2007 –22 March 2011
Personal details
Born (1949-09-20) 20 September 1949 (age 74)
Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland
Political party Action for Independence (2020-21)
Other political
affiliations		 Scottish National Party (until 2020)

David George Thompson (born 20 September 1949) is a Scottish former politician who was the leader of Action for Independence (AFI) from 2020 to 2021.

Contents

A former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Thompson was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 2007 to 2016. In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election he became an MSP for the Highlands and Islands region, and then in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election for the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency.

Early life

Thompson was born in Lossiemouth, Scotland. Prior to entering politics, he had a long career in local government, ending as Director of Protective Services for the Highland Council. [1]

Political career

In 2007, Thompson was elected from the regional list as MSP for the Highlands and Islands. [2] Thompson received some media attention in the aftermath of the 2007 election because he pointed out to the returning officer that the number of additional members for each party had been wrongly calculated. [3] The initial calculation would have given Labour four additional seats and the SNP none, which would have resulted in Labour gaining a plurality and winning the election. After Thompson challenged this calculation and the figures were correctly calculated, Labour were allocated three seats and the SNP two. This resulted in the SNP gaining a plurality of one seat and enabled them to form the Scottish Government.

In 2011, Thompson was elected for the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency. [4]

In February 2014, he was one of seven SNP MSPs that voted against allowing same-sex marriage in Scotland. [5]

In July 2020, Thompson quit the SNP to set up the Alliance for Independence, a new pro-Scottish independence party to contest the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, predicting the party could win up to 24 seats, and arguing that voting SNP with both constituency and list votes would "achieve nothing." [6] He told The National he believed the new movement could help create a "supermajority" in Holyrood at the expense of the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems. [7] In October, the party changed its name to Action for Independence (AFI) in February 2021 after the Alliance for Independence was originally rejected by the Electoral Commission. [8] [9] [10]

On 26 March 2021, Thompson stated that AFI would be standing down all of their candidates in order to support the Alba Party in the 2021 election. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ Restan, Sue (19 July 2016). "Former MSP honoured by the trading standards profession". The Press and Journal . Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "MSPs: Previous MSPs: Session3: Thompson, Dave". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Grandfather was SNP election hero BBC News , 5 May 2007
  4. ↑ "MSPs: Previous MSPs: Session4: Thompson, Dave". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Scotland's same-sex marriage bill: How MSPs voted". 4 February 2014 – via bbc.co.uk.
  6. ↑ Hutcheon, Paul (14 July 2020). "SNP veteran to quit to form Alliance for Independence party at Holyrood". Daily Record.
  7. ↑ "Ex SNP MSP defends new party that will create independence 'supermajority'". The National. Scotland. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Gordon, Tom (3 October 2020). "New Independence party forced to change 'misleading' name". The Herald. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Gordon, Tom (5 February 2021). "New pro-Indy and pro-Union parties approved for Holyrood election". The Herald. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "View registration – The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk.
  11. ↑ Barrie, Douglas (26 March 2021). "Action for Independence stands down candidates after Salmond announcement". standard.co.uk.
Scottish Parliament
Preceded byas MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West Member of the Scottish Parliament for Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch
2011–2016 		Succeeded by
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