Richard Simpson (politician)

Richard Simpson

Richard Simpson (* 1942 in Edinburgh ) is a Scottish politician and member of the Labor Party .

Life

Simpson attended the Perth Academy and Trinity College Glenalmond in Perth and the University of Edinburgh . He subsequently worked as a general practitioner and psychiatrist.

Political career

In the Scottish parliamentary elections in 1999 Simpson won the direct mandate of the constituency of Ochil and moved into the newly created Scottish Parliament . After the death of First Minister Donald Dewar , the interim leadership by Henry McLeish and the swearing-in of Jack McConnell as First Minister in November 2001, Simpson was appointed Deputy Minister for Justice. A year later, Simpson, calling striking firefighters a fascist bastard , sparked a wave of outrage that resulted in resigning from office in late November 2002 but retaining his seat in parliament.

In the 2003 parliamentary elections , he ran again for Ochil, but was defeated by the SNP candidate , George Reid . As no list candidates were sent to parliament due to the election results for the Labor Party in the electoral region of Mid Scotland and Fife , Simpson lost his seat. In the 2007 general election , Simpson entered parliament via the Mid Scotland and Fife list. In the course of the constituency reform of 2011, the constituency of Ochil was abolished. A good part of the area went into the newly created constituency of Clackmannanshire and Dunblane , for which Simpson ran in the 2011 general election. He was clearly defeated by the candidate of the SNP, but regained a seat in Parliament as a list candidate for Mid Scotland and Fife. In this legislative term, Simpson deals with issues relating to health and care.