British politician (born 1940)
Robin Charles Moreton Harper
,
FRSSA
(born 4 August 1940) is a Scottish politician, who was a
Member of the Scottish Parliament
(MSP) for the
Lothians region
(1999?2011).
He was co-convener of the
Scottish Greens
(2004?2008).
Harper became an MSP in the first elections to the
Scottish Parliament
in
1999
, the first ever elected
Green
parliamentarian in the United Kingdom.
Early life and career
[
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]
Harper was born in
Thurso
,
Caithness
. He was educated at
St Marylebone Grammar School
and
Elgin Academy, Moray
. He graduated from the
University of Aberdeen
in 1962. He worked as an English teacher in
Kenya
, then a
Modern Studies
teacher at
Boroughmuir High School
,
Edinburgh
.
[2]
Harper was a member of Lothian
Children's Panel
1985?1988 and Lothian Health Council 1993?1998.
[3]
Political career
[
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]
Harper joined the
Ecology Party
's Scottish branch in 1985. At the time, the branch only had 35 members, and its AGM that year was held in his flat. He was elected unopposed as its convenor and secretary, and remained a leading figure as it became first the
UK-wide Green Party
, then the independent Scottish Greens.
[4]
He stood, unsuccessfully, as a Green candidate in the
1995 Perth and Kinross by-election
, and for
Edinburgh Pentlands
in the
1997 United Kingdom general election
, finishing seventh and sixth respectively.
[5]
[6]
Scottish Parliament
[
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]
Harper stood for election at the first ever
Scottish Parliament election in 1999
, and was elected as an
additional member
for the
Lothians region
, becoming the first ever elected Green Party parliamentarian in
British political history
. In an emotional speech, he promised to be a critical voice on the environment in the newly created devolved Parliament.
[7]
He criticised the
Scottish Executive
's decision to split ministerial responsibility for the environment in 2001.
[8]
He served as his party's sole representative in the first Parliament (1999?2003) until the
2003 election
,
[9]
when the Scottish Green Party won another 6 seats in the regional lists.
[10]
[11]
Harper was sworn in by giving the formal affirmation, also adding: "On behalf of the Scottish Green Party I wish to affirm that our priority will be to serve the people of Scotland who are sovereign in this land."
[12]
He was the party's spokesman on education and young people.
[13]
In 2004, he was a member of the Scottish Parliament team in the TV general knowledge show
University Challenge: The Professionals
. He and fellow team members
Richard Baker
(Labour),
Stewart Stevenson
(SNP) and
Jamie Stone
(Lib Dem) who was captain, beat a
Welsh Assembly
team by 110 points to 75.
[14]
In January 2007,
The Scotsman
reported that Harper was being considered for the next
Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
. Harper stated that he did not know of this story, but said "it would be an honour even to be considered".
[15]
Following the 2007 elections to the
Scottish Parliament
, Harper was returned as a list MSP for the
Lothians
,
[16]
this time one of only two Green Party members elected.
[17]
After an agreement with the
Scottish National Party
, the party with the largest mandate from the election, the Green MSPs including Harper voted for
Alex Salmond
to become
First Minister of Scotland
but the Greens declined to enter a formal coalition with the Scottish National Party. As part of the deal, fellow Green MSP
Patrick Harvie
was nominated to head the
Holyrood Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee
.
[18]
In 2009, Harper and Harvie voted to reject an SNP government budget.
[19]
He did not seek re-election in
2011
.
[20]
After Parliament
[
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]
Dear Mr. Harper
, Harper's autobiography written with journalist
Fred Bridgland
, was published in 2011.
[21]
In September 2014, Harper became chairman of the
Scottish Wildlife Trust
.
[22]
He remained in that role for three years.
[23]
At the beginning of December 2013, Harper announced that he would "absolutely vote no" in the
2014 referendum on Scottish independence
, going on to say that he would be happy to help the
Better Together campaign
and that there was a "significant minority" of
Greens
who were opposed to independence.
[24]
In August 2021, Harper criticised the
Bute House Agreement
that the Greens had struck with
Nicola Sturgeon
's government, claiming that his party had failed to take tougher action on North Sea oil, marine protection and taxation.
[25]
In September 2022, he joined the board of
Gordon Brown
's unionist think tank, Our Scottish Future.
[26]
In August 2023, he announced that he had resigned from the Scottish Green Party, citing differences of opinion on independence and concerns over what he described as the party's move to the left.
[27]
Harper also stated his intention to vote Labour at the next election.
[28]
[29]
Patronage
[
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]
Harper, who is openly gay, has been a patron of many organisations including
LGBT Youth Scotland
, an organisation dedicated to the inclusion and advancement of the rights of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
young people in Scotland. He was an Honorary Vice-President of
English-Speaking Union Scotland
. He served as
Rector of the University of Edinburgh
2000?2003.
[30]
Harper was an Honorary President of the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group.
[31]
He was elected as
Rector of the University of Aberdeen
in 2005.
He was President of the
Royal Scottish Society of Arts
2008?2011.
[32]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Andrews, Kieran (2 August 2023).
"Robin Harper quits Greens over stance on trans rights and independence"
.
The Times
. Retrieved
2 August
2023
.
- ^
Black, Andrew (13 September 2008).
"Constant force calls it a day"
.
BBC News
. Retrieved
21 June
2020
.
- ^
"CV: Robin Harper"
.
BBC News
. 2 April 2003
. Retrieved
22 June
2020
.
- ^
"A Short History of the Scottish Green Party"
. Scottish Greens. 2 July 2015. Archived from
the original
on 2 July 2015.
- ^
Boothroyd, David.
"Results of Byelections in the 1992-97 Parliament"
.
United Kingdom Election Results
. Archived from
the original
on 20 July 2017
. Retrieved
23 May
2022
.
- ^
"Vote2001: Results & Constituencies > Edinburgh Pentlands"
.
BBC News
. Retrieved
21 June
2020
.
- ^
"Historic Green victory"
.
BBC News
. 7 May 1999.
- ^
"Greens see red over executive shake-up"
.
BBC News
. 21 March 2001.
- ^
"Previous MSPs: Session 1 (1999-2003): Robin Harper"
. Scottish Parliament
. Retrieved
30 June
2020
.
- ^
"Vote 2003 > Scottish Parliament election > region > Lothians"
.
BBC News
. Retrieved
28 November
2021
.
- ^
"Greens in seven heaven"
.
BBC News
. 2 May 2003.
- ^
"Oath protest as MSPs start work"
.
BBC News
. 7 May 2003
. Retrieved
30 June
2020
.
- ^
"Previous MSPs: Session 2 (2003-2007): Robin Harper"
. Scottish Parliament
. Retrieved
30 June
2020
.
- ^
"Scots win in 'Paxo' challenge"
.
BBC News
. 28 June 2004.
- ^
"Harper tipped to be Presiding Officer"
.
Scotland on Sunday
. 28 January 2007
. Retrieved
23 September
2014
.
- ^
"Previous MSPs: Session 3 (2007-2011): Robin Harper"
. Scottish Parliament
. Retrieved
30 June
2020
.
- ^
"Smaller parties suffer at polls"
.
BBC News
. 4 May 2007.
- ^
"SNP and Greens sign working deal"
.
BBC News
. 11 May 2007.
- ^
"Scottish budget rejected by MSPs"
.
BBC News
. 28 January 2009.
- ^
Black, Andrew (22 March 2011).
"Scottish election: MSPs bidding farewell to Holyrood"
.
BBC News
.
- ^
Bort, Eberhard (2013).
"Dear Mr Harper: Britain's First Green Parliamentarian, Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2011"
.
Scottish Affairs
(84).
doi
:
10.3366/scot.2013.0029
.
- ^
"News: Former Green MSP becomes Trust Chairman"
.
scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk
(Press release). Scottish Wildlife Trust. 22 September 2014
. Retrieved
8 October
2014
.
- ^
Smith, Susan (4 January 2017).
"Major conservation body seeks new chair"
.
Third Force News
. Retrieved
30 June
2020
.
- ^
"Robin Harper to vote No"
.
The Scotsman
. 3 December 2013
. Retrieved
30 June
2020
.
- ^
Carrell, Severin; Brooks, Libby (26 August 2021).
"Former Scottish Greens leader criticises 'disappointing' agreement with SNP"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
28 August
2021
.
- ^
Webster, Laura (20 September 2022).
"Gordon Brown launches new advisory board for his Unionist think tank ? here's who's in"
.
The National
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
"Robin Harper quits Scottish Greens as party has lost the plot"
.
BBC News
. 3 August 2023
. Retrieved
3 August
2023
.
- ^
Hutcheon, Paul (3 August 2023).
"Robin Harper says he will vote Labour after quitting Scottish Greens"
.
Daily Record
.
- ^
Harper, Robin (4 August 2023).
"I am a builder not a destroyer - that's why I had to leave the Scottish Greens"
.
Holyrood Website
.
- ^
"New rector pledges to cut suicide rate"
.
The Herald
.
Glasgow
. 12 May 2000
. Retrieved
22 June
2020
.
- ^
EUSOG.
"the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group"
. Retrieved
30 January
2013
.
- ^
"Past Presidents"
.
Royal Scottish Society of Arts
. Retrieved
22 June
2020
.
External links
[
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]