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John Lamont

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For other people named John Lamont, see John Lamont (disambiguation).

John Lamont
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded byIan Murray
Succeeded byAndrew Bowie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
27 October 2022 – 5 July 2024
Serving with The Lord Offord of Garvel (2022–2024)
The Lord Cameron of Lochiel (2024)
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byDavid Duguid
Succeeded byKirsty McNeill
Member of Parliament
for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byCalum Kerr
Majority6,599 (14.1%)
Convener of the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee
In office
1 March 2011 – 22 March 2011
Preceded byBill Aitken
Succeeded byChristine Grahame
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Roxburgh and Berwickshire (2007–2011)
In office
3 May 2007 – 27 April 2017
Preceded byEuan Robson
Succeeded byRachael Hamilton
Personal details
Born
John Robert Lamont

(1976-04-15) 15 April 1976 (age 48)
Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland
Political partyScottish Conservatives
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Websitewww.johnlamont.org

John Robert Lamont (born 15 April 1976) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk since 2017, and was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from July to November 2024.[1] Lamont previously served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, later Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire after boundary changes, from 2007 to 2017. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland between October 2022 to July 2024.[2]

Early life and career

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John Lamont was born on 15 April 1976 in Kilwinning to Robert and Elizabeth Lamont. He was educated at Kilwinning Academy and studied at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow where he gained a first class honours degree. He worked as a solicitor at Freshfields in London and then at Brodies in Edinburgh.[3]

Political career

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In 2002, Lamont stood as a candidate in the London Borough of Lambeth in the Brixton ward where he finished in 10th place.

Lamont stood in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk on three occasions before being elected in 2017; at the 2005, 2010 and 2015 general elections.[3] At the 2005 general election, Lamont came second with 28.8% of the vote behind the Liberal Democrat candidate Michael Moore.[4] Lamont came second at the 2010 general election with 33.8% of the vote, again behind Moore.[5][6] At the 2015 general election, Lamont again came second, with 36% of the vote behind the SNP candidate Calum Kerr.[7][8][9]

Lamont as an MSP in 2011

In May 2007, Lamont was elected Member of the Scottish Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire. In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, he won the newly constituted Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire seat with an increased majority. As an MSP, he served as Scottish Conservative Chief Whip and Parliamentary Business Manager.[10]

From 1 March to 22 March 2011, Lamont was briefly Convener of the Justice Committee following the resignation of Bill Aitken.[11] He caused controversy in May 2011, for accusing Catholic education in the west of Scotland to be 'state-sponsored conditioning of sectarian attitudes'.[12]

Following the resignation of Annabel Goldie as the Scottish Conservative leader, Lamont had been tipped as a potential candidate to replace her, however he reportedly 'self-destructed' his chances following his remarks on Catholic schools.[13]

In November 2017, it emerged that Lamont's local party had accepted a £2,000 donation from one of the funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a self-proclaimed "climate sceptic" organisation.[14]

Lamont announced his intention to stand down from this Holyrood seat effective 4 May 2017 to stand at the snap 2017 general election for the House of Commons constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk.[15] As a constituency MSP, Lamont's resignation triggered a by-election in the constituency, which was won by Rachael Hamilton of the Scottish Conservatives.[16]

Parliamentary career

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At the 2017 general election, Lamont was elected to Parliament as MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk with 53.9% of the vote and a majority of 11,060.[17][18] He was re-elected as MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk at the 2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 48.4% and a decreased majority of 5,148.[19][20][21]

Lamont was given the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign Office in November 2021.[22] He resigned from this position on 6 June 2022 in order to vote against Boris Johnson in the vote of no confidence.[23] He was previously critical of Johnson over the parties in Number 10 during lockdown, saying it was "sickening" to read about them.[24]

Appointed on 26 October 2022, Lamont is currently a Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Scotland Office.[3]

At the 2024 general election, Lamont was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 40.5% and an increased majority of 6,599.[25][26] After the general election, Lamont was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.[27]

Personal life

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In 2014 he became the first UK politician to complete an Ironman Triathlon and was the fastest MP in the 2018 London Marathon, running to raise funds for MND Scotland and the My Name's Doddie Foundation.[28] He also ran the 2019 London Marathon, raising money for Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal.[29]

References

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  1. ^ "UK politics live: Lord Cameron resigns as Rishi Sunak announces interim shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Lamont, John, (born 15 April 1976), MP". UK Who's Who. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U246231. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4.
  4. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  6. ^ "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk". bbc.co.uk.
  7. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ^ "UK Parliamentary General Election 2015 results - Elections - Scottish Borders Council". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2015. 9Aug15
  9. ^ "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
  10. ^ "Scottish Conservative appointments for new parliamentary term". Scottish Conservative Party. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Justice for Lamont". The Southern Reporter. 10 March 2011.
  12. ^ "MSP in 'sectarian' school attack". BBC News. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Gay MSP in running to lead Scots Tories". HeraldScotland. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  14. ^ Hutcheon, Paul (26 November 2017). "Ruth Davidson in 'hypocrisy' row over donation from climate change sceptic". The Herald.
  15. ^ Green, Chris (25 April 2017). "Tory MSP resigns from Holyrood to contest Westminster seat". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  16. ^ "WATCH: Rachael Hamilton wins Holyrood by-election". Border Telegraph. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  17. ^ "General Election Results 2017 - Seat: Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk". The Scotsman. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  18. ^ "John Lamont to stand in June's general election". Border Telegraph. 24 April 2017.
  19. ^ Anderson, Joseph (13 December 2019). "General election: John Lamont retains Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat". Southern Reporter. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Candidates announced for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk County Constituency". Scottish Borders Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  21. ^ "Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  22. ^ Richards, Xander (26 November 2021). "Scottish Tory MP John Lamont to take new role working under Liz Truss". The National. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  23. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (6 June 2022). "Boris Johnson no-confidence vote under way as Tory MPs cast ballots to decide prime minister's future – live". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  24. ^ Elgot, Jessica (31 May 2022). "Tory MP John Stevenson submits letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  25. ^ "UK General Election Results". Scottish Borders Council. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk results". Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  27. ^ Morton, Becky (8 July 2024). "Sunak names new top team as Lord Cameron resigns". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  28. ^ Lamont, John. "About John Lamont". John Lamont MP. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  29. ^ Lamont, John. "About John Lamont". John Lamont MP. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Lamont (Scottish politician).
Scottish Parliament
Preceded by Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Roxburgh and Berwickshire
2007–2011 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
2011–2017 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
2017–present 		Incumbent
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