Alyn Smith

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Alyn Smith

Alyn Smith (born September 15, 1973 in Glasgow ) is a British politician of the Scottish National Party and a Member of the House of Commons , Smith was a member of the European Parliament from the 2004 European elections to December 12, 2019 , he was re-elected in the 2009 , 2014 and 2019 elections . He was a member of the group The Greens / EFA and from 2019 its first deputy group chairman. He was also chairman of the European Free Alliance in the European Parliament.

Youth and education

Smith grew up in Scotland and Saudi Arabia , where his father worked. In 1986 he returned to Scotland. After his return, he began studying law at Leeds University and completed an Erasmus semester at Heidelberg University . He later moved to Nottingham Law School , part of Nottingham Trent University , and graduated in 1996. At the same time he was admitted to the College of Europe in Natolin , where he studied European Studies (born 1994/1995).

After working as an English teacher in India and working for Scotland Europa in Brussels, Smith moved to London to work as a lawyer at the major law firm Clifford Chance .

politics

After working in London, Smith moved to Edinburgh in 2000 to initially continue to work as a lawyer. He later moved to the Scottish Parliament , where he worked for MP Richard Lochhead as an advisor on Europe, law and economics. He joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) and ran for the party in the 2001 British general election in the Edinburgh West constituency , but missed entry. A candidacy in the same constituency in the elections to the Scottish Parliament in 2003 was also unsuccessful.

European Parliament

In 2004 his party nominated him for second place on the electoral list for the 2004 European elections , behind Ian Hudghton . The party won 19.7 percent of the vote and two seats in the constituency, one for Smith. This made him the youngest Scottish MEP ever elected. Like his SNP colleague Hudghton, he joined the group The Greens / EFA . In the 6th legislative period (2004–2009), Smith was a member of his parliamentary group on the Committee on Regional Development (2004–2007) and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (2007–2009). Smith also served as an alternate member of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee .

In the 2009 European elections, Smith was re-elected together with Ian Hudghton. In the 7th legislative period (2009-2014) Alyn Smith was a member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis . He was also a deputy member of the Committee on Culture and Education (2009–2012), the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (2009–2012), and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (2012–2014). For his work on the Agriculture Committee in the 6th and 7th legislations, Smith received the Scottish Farmer Magazine Award for Outstanding Contribution to Scottish Agriculture at the 2009 Highland Show .

Alyn Smithg was re-elected together with his SNP colleague Ian Hughton in the 2014 European elections. In the 8th legislative period (2014–2019) he shifted his main focus of work in Parliament to foreign policy and became a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs . As a deputy member, he was in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development from 2014 to 2017 and in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs from 2017 to 2018 .

Alyn Smith with parliamentary group colleague Rebecca Harms (2016)

Smith was best known for his speech "Scotland did not let you down. Please do not let Scotland down now." ("Scotland has not let you down. Now do not let Scotland down on your part.") In front of the European Parliament on June 28, 2016, with which he spoke on the Scottish voting behavior in the referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union pointed out and called for European support for the Scottish secessionist efforts. On March 27, 2019, Alyn Smith gave a short speech in Parliament, in which he emphasized that in the event of a Brexit, Scotland would have to leave, contrary to the democratically expressed will of the Scots, and that if Scotland were to become independent, there would be a (re) entry into the EU is necessary. The speech received a lot of media attention, especially Smith's conclusion: "I'm asking you to leave a light on so we can find our way home." In German, "I ask you to leave a light on so that we can find our way home" .

His colleague Ian Hudghton did not run for the 2019 European elections , so the SNP nominated Smith for first place on the list. The SNP gained significantly more votes, so that for the first time three SNP members were elected for the European Parliament: In addition to Alyn Smith, Christian Allard and Aileen McLeod . During the constitution of his traditional parliamentary group, the Greens / EFA , the members elected him, along with six other deputy chairmen, to be the “first deputy chairman”. The MEPs of the EFA group elected him chairman of the European Free Alliance . In the 9th legislature, Smith returned to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and an alternate member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

British House of Commons

In the election for the British House of Commons in December 2019 , Smith ran in the constituency of Stirling , where he succeeded in defeating incumbent MEP Stephen Kerr of the Tories with a targeted anti- Brexit election campaign and regaining the mandate for his party. Within his group, Smith is responsible for foreign policy issues. Gave his seat in the European Parliament Smith with his move to the House on Nachrückerin was Heather Anderson .

Private

Smith lives in Edinburgh with his significant other .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Greens / EFA parliamentary group has elected a new parliamentary group board. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
  2. a b About Alyn Smith. In: alynsmith.eu. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .
  3. a b c About Alyn Smith. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
  4. 6th legislative term | Alyn SMITH | MPs | European Parliament. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
  5. 7th legislative term | Alyn SMITH | MPs | European Parliament. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
  6. ^ Alyn Smith MEP | SNP - EU | Agriculture MEP Highland Show "Champion of Champions". Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
  7. 8th legislative term | Alyn SMITH | MPs | European Parliament. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
  8. SNP MEP Alyn Smith calls on EU to 'leave a light on for Scotland'. In: heraldscotland.com. March 27, 2019, accessed April 1, 2019 .
  9. SNP MEP elected President of EFA Group in the European Parliament. Accessed July 14, 2019 .
  10. 9th legislative term | Alyn SMITH | MPs | European Parliament. Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
  11. Election 2019 results: The high-profile casualties of Scotland's election. BBC , December 13, 2020, accessed February 2, 2020. (English)
  12. ^ New Scottish MEP sworn in - for four days. BBC, January 28, 2020, accessed February 2, 2020. (English)