John Nicolson: Difference between revisions

'''John MacKenzie Nicolson<ref>{{cite news|date=15 May 2015|title=List of Members returned to Parliament at the General Election 2015 Scotland|work=[[The Edinburgh Gazette]]|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/2334493|access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>''' (born 23 June 1961)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brunskill|first=Ian|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1129682574|title=The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election|date=19 March 2020|isbn=978-0-00-839258-1|pages=292|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Limited |oclc=1129682574}}</ref> is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP) politician.

 

 

 

==Early life and education==

Nicolson described the 2017 campaign against him by the Liberal Democrats in East Dunbartonshire as "relentlessly negative".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/constituency-profile-lib-dems-pin-hopes-east-dunbartonshire-1448133|title=Constituency profile: Lib Dems pin hopes on East Dunbartonshire|website=www.scotsman.com|date=5 June 2017 }}</ref> 61% of Nicolson's constituents in East Dunbartonshire had voted against independence in the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results|title=Scottish independence referendum - Results - BBC News|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> and, amid strong opposition to a second independence referendum from voters,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-40216748|title=General election 2017: Sturgeon says Indyref2 'a factor' in SNP losses|work=BBC News|date=9 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bmgresearch.co.uk/scots-2017-independence-vote/|title=Herald/BMG Poll: Majority of Scots against a 2017 Independence vote|date=3 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/nearly-two-thirds-of-scots-dont-want-independence-referendum-in-2017/|title=Nearly two-thirds of Scots don't want independence referendum in 2017|date=2 January 2017}}</ref> Nicolson failed to be re-elected. He came second with 30.3% of the vote behind the seat's former MP, [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] [[Jo Swinson]].<ref>{{cite web |date=8 November 2019 |title=UK Parliamentary General Election 2019 |url=https://www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk/council/elections-and-voting/uk-parliamentary-general-election-2019 |access-date=15 November 2019 |website=East Dunbartonshire Council |ref=15 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Dunbartonshire East parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/S14000018 |access-date=2019-12-15 |work=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="CBP-8749">{{cite web |date=28 January 2020 |title=Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118043715/https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf |archive-date=18 November 2021 |access-date=19 January 2022 |publisher=[[House of Commons Library]] |location=London}}</ref> East Dunbartonshire was one of 21 SNP seats lost on election night as the party's vote dropped nationwide by 13%.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-40246330|title=Election 2017: Scotland's result in numbers|work=BBC News|date=12 June 2017}}</ref>

 

[[File:SNP 2024 National Campaign Council (33).jpg|thumb|SNP House of Commons leader [[Stephen Flynn (Scottish politician)|Stephen Flynn]] and Nicolson at the 2024 National Campaign Council]]

At the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]], Nicolson stood as the SNP candidate in [[Ochil and South Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Ochil and South Perthshire]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 November 2019|title=Election candidate ridiculed for appearing to forget which constituency he was campaigning for|last=Osborne|first=Samuel|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/snp-election-candidate-constituency-name-wrong-south-perthshire-dunbartonshire-a9220446.html|access-date=10 September 2020|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> During the 2019 general election campaign, Nicolson was heckled at a hustings in Alloa after telling the audience, "Only the Scottish National Party can beat the Tories here in East Dunbartonshire."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/27/snp-candidate-john-nicolson-ridiculed-forgetting-seat-election/|title=SNP candidate John Nicolson ridiculed after forgetting seat at election hustings|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=27 November 2019|last1=Johnson|first1=Simon}}</ref> Afterwards, Nicolson said "I made a slip of the tongue. We're all human."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Johnson|first=Simon|date=27 November 2019|title=SNP candidate John Nicolson ridiculed after forgetting seat at election hustings|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/27/snp-candidate-john-nicolson-ridiculed-forgetting-seat-election/|access-date=22 March 2021|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=27 November 2019|title=Election candidate ridiculed for appearing to forget which constituency he was campaigning for|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/snp-election-candidate-constituency-name-wrong-south-perthshire-dunbartonshire-a9220446.html|access-date=22 March 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/diary/watch-oblivious-snp-candidate-john-nicolson-gets-heckled-after-getting-his-own-constituency-wrong|title = WATCH: Oblivious SNP candidate John Nicolson gets heckled after getting his own constituency wrong|date = 27 November 2019}}</ref> Nicolson was elected as MP for Ochil and South Perthshire with 46.5% of the vote and a majority of 4,498.<ref>{{cite web |title=UK Parliamentary election: Ochil and South Perthshire constituency |url=https://www.clacks.gov.uk/council/noticeofpollgeneralelection2019/ |access-date=16 November 2019 |website=Clackmannanshire Council }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Ochil & South Perthshire parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/S14000050 |access-date=2019-12-15 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="CBP-87492">{{cite web |date=28 January 2020 |title=Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118043715/https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf |archive-date=18 November 2021 |access-date=19 January 2022 |publisher=[[House of Commons Library]] |location=London}}</ref>

 

In June 2023, Nicolson was cleared of bullying Conservative MP [[Nadine Dorries]], who had complained about his conduct in a Parliamentary Committee meeting and several tweets that he had liked on [[Twitter]], including one that referred to Dorries as a "vacuous goon". Dorries' complaint was initially upheld by the [[Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards]], before an independent panel cleared Nicolson on appeal, based on, among other factors, Dorries' own record of behaviour on Twitter.<ref>{{cite web |title=SNP MP cleared of bullying Nadine Dorries |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65960992 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=22 June 2023 |date=21 June 2023}}</ref>

 

==Personal life==

{{s-aft|after=[[Jo Swinson]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Luke Graham (politician)|Luke Graham]]}}

{{s-end}}

 

[[Category:1961 births]]

[[Category:People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School]]

[[Category:21st-century Scottish LGBT people]]