George Reid

The Right Honourable  George Reid
2nd Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
In office 7 May 2003 – 14 May 2007
Preceded by	David Steel
Succeeded by	Alex Fergusson
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ochil
In office 3 May 2003 – 7 May 2007
Preceded by	Richard Simpson
Succeeded by	Keith Brown
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife
In office 1 May 1999 – 3 May 2003
Born	June 4, 1939 (1939-06-04) (age 70) Tullibody, Clackmannanshire
Political party	Scottish National Party

George Newlands Reid (born 4 June 1939) was the second Presiding Officer (Speaker) of the Scottish Parliament, and was the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May 2008.

Early life and work

George Reid was born in 1939 at Tullibody, near Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, and educated at Dollar Academy and the University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, where he was awarded a Master's degree with First Class Honours in History in 1962. He then continued with further studies in Switzerland and Union College in the United States, obtaining a diploma in international relations^[1].

He worked as a broadcast journalist and television producer for the BBC, Granada Television and Scottish Television, and as a print journalist for several newspapers. In this time he produced over 200 television documentaries, including Emmy winner Contract 736.^[1]

Westminster Parliament

Reid was elected as the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire in the February 1974 general election, with a majority of 3,610^[2]. He more than doubled his majority to 7,341 in the October 1974 general election^[3], but then lost by a narrow 984 votes in the UK general election, 1979^[4].

During his time as an MP he served as a member of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and Western European Union^[5].

Red Cross

After leaving Westminster he briefly returned to journalism. For BBC Scotland, he presented Agenda (BBC Scotland programme), which was produced by Kirsty Wark. He was producer of the famous reportage by Michael Buerk of the Ethiopian famine of 1984 that inspired the Band Aid and Live Aid charity campaigns, which led him to be headhunted by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent^[6]. He was Director of Public Affairs there for 12 years, based in Geneva, Switzerland, but working worldwide in conflict and disaster zones. After relief efforts for the 1988 Armenian earthquake he was recognised with the Gold Medal of the Supreme Soviet of Armenia and the Pirogov Gold Medal of the USSR.^[5]

The Scottish Parliament

In 1995 Reid re-entered Scottish politics by delivering the annual Donaldson Lecture at the SNP conference, drawing on his knowledge of continental European politics to argue a case for why a party like the SNP could be expected to prosper if a Scottish Parliament was established. Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland George Robertson's contrary claim that devolution would "kill the SNP stone dead" was dismissed by Reid by saying "Ho, ho, ho"^[7].

He stood in the Ochil constituency, which covered approximately the same area as his old seat, at Westminster in the UK general election 1997, coming in second^[8]. When the new Labour administration moved forward with proposals for a Scottish Parliament, Reid first served on the pre-establishment Consultative Steering Group^[9], and then was elected in the first election in 1999 to represent Mid Scotland and Fife.

At the opening of the Parliament Reid was defeated 82 votes to 44 by Sir David Steel (a Liberal Democrat, the last-ever leader of the British Liberal Party) for the position of Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and was instead elected a Deputy Presiding Officer^[10].

At the 2003 Scottish Parliament Election Reid succeeded in winning the Ochil constituency first past the post^[11]. He was then elected by his fellow MSPs to succeed David Steel as Presiding Officer^[12]. As the office is non-partisan, he took voluntary suspension from his political party, the SNP.

As the Presiding Officer has a role in advising the Queen, Reid was appointed a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 2004. At the official opening of the controversial new Scottish Parliament building that year, he made a keynote speech in which he paid tribute to the construction as an architectural achievement, and urged parliamentarians to "listen to the building" to inspire them in their future endeavours^[13].

As Presiding Officer he also led the creation of a Scottish Futures Forum, to promote cross-party strategic thinking.^[14] He was appointed President of the Royal Commonwealth Society Scotland^[15], and became Patron of the Scottish Disability Equality Forum^[16]. During his time as Presiding Officer he won the Herald newspaper's Scottish Politician of the Year award in 2003 and 2005, making him the only person so far to have won the award on two occasions^[17].

After Presiding Officer

Reid chose not to seek re-election at the end of the 2007 Parliamentary term. As an independent figure with experience of a devolved parliament, he was chosen to lead a review of the administration of the troubled Northern Ireland Assembly^[18]. Reid also joined the European Union's Caucasus-Caspian diplomatic commission^[19]. On April 19, 2007, he was made a Freeman of the County of Clackmannanshire^[20].

He was then appointed Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in January 2008, to serve as the Queen's personal representative to the Church of Scotland^[21]. This position is second only to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in the ceremonial Order of Precedence^[22].

He also serves as an Honorary Professor in the School of Law at Glasgow University^[23], and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of St Andrews^[24], University of Edinburgh^[25], University of Stirling and Queen Margaret University^[26]. Reid is married with two children.

Reid is also currently in talks with the National Trust for Scotland: he has been asked to lead its impending wide-ranging internal governance review.[1] He has highlighted three key areas for the Trust's report: the report must be properly resourced and completed within six months, it must be a transparent process with regular feedback, and it must be open to all opinions.^[27]

References

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about: George Reid

• Scottish Parliament official website - Rt Hon George Reid MSP
• Scottish Futures Forum