John Lamont (Scottish politician)

John Robert Lamont (born 15 April 1976) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk since 2017. Lamont previously served as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, later Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire after boundary changes, from 2007 to 2017.

John Lamont

MP
Lamont in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byCalum Kerr
Majority5,148 (9.6%)
Convener of the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee
In office
1 March 2011 – 22 March 2011
Preceded byBill Aitken
Succeeded byChristine Grahame
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Roxburgh and Berwickshire (2007–2011)
In office
3 May 2007 – 4 May 2017
Preceded byEuan Robson
Succeeded byRachael Hamilton
Personal details
Born
John Robert Lamont

(1976-04-15) 15 April 1976
Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland
Political partyScottish Conservative Party
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
ProfessionSolicitor
Websitewww.johnlamont.org

Early life

John Lamont was born on 15 April 1976 in Kilwinning to Robert and Elizabeth Lamont. He was educated at Kilwinning Academy and studied at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow where he gained a first class honours degree. He worked as a solicitor at Freshfields in London and then at Brodies in Edinburgh.[1]

Political career

In 2002, Lamont stood as a candidate in the London Borough of Lambeth in the Brixton ward where he finished in 10th place. As well as becoming involved in local politics, he became the Chairman of his local Conservative association and was the Conservative Party candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk at the 2005, 2010 and 2015 general elections.[1]

Lamont as an MSP in 2011

In May 2007, Lamont was elected Member of the Scottish Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire. In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, he won the newly constituted Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire seat with an increased majority. As an MSP, he served as Scottish Conservative Chief Whip and Parliamentary Business Manager.[2] From 1 March to 22 March 2011, Lamont was briefly Convener of the Justice Committee following the resignation of Bill Aitken.[3] He caused controversy in May 2011, for accusing Catholic education in the west of Scotland to be 'state-sponsored conditioning of sectarian attitudes'.[4] Following the resignation of Annabel Goldie as the Scottish Conservative leader, Lamont had been tipped as a potential candidate to replace her, however he reportedly 'self-destructed' his chances following his remarks on Catholic schools.[5] In 2017, it emerged Lamont's local party had accepted a £2,000 donation from one of the funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a self-proclaimed "climate sceptic" organisation.[6]

Lamont announced his intention to stand down from this Holyrood seat effective 4 May 2017 to stand at the 2017 snap election for the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat. As a constituency MSP, Lamont's resignation triggered a by-election in the constituency, which was won by Rachael Hamilton of the Scottish Conservatives. In June 2017, he was elected Member of Parliament for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, with a majority of 11,100 votes; which made the constituency the safest Conservative seat in Scotland. At the December 2019 general election he was re-elected to serve as MP but with a lower vote count of 48.4% and a majority of about 5,100 votes.

Personal life

Lamont was the fastest of 15 MPs in the 2018 London Marathon at 3:38:03.[7]

References
  1. "Lamont, John, (born 15 April 1976), MP". doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U246231. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Scottish Conservative appointments for new parliamentary term". Scottish Conservative Party. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  3. "Justice for Lamont". The Southern Reporter. 10 March 2011.
  4. "MSP in 'sectarian' school attack". BBC News. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  5. "Gay MSP in running to lead Scots Tories". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  6. "Ruth Davidson in 'hypocrisy' row over donation from climate change sceptic".
  7. Singleton, David (23 April 2018). "Tories keep London Marathon crown as John Lamont is fastest MP". Total Politics. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
Scottish Parliament
Preceded by
Euan Robson		 Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Roxburgh and Berwickshire
2007–2011		 Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
2011–2017		 Succeeded by
Rachael Hamilton
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Calum Kerr		 Member of Parliament
for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
2017–present		 Incumbent
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