Willie Rennie
Encyclopedia
William Cowan Rennie MSP
(born 27 September 1967) is a Scottish politician and current Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
.
After college, Rennie spent most of his early career as a Liberal Democrat campaigner and official before working as a public relations
consultant in the private sector. He became the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife
after a by-election win
in February 2006. He later lost this seat to Labour
in the May 2010 UK general election but was subsequently appointed in the same month by the newly formed UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition
as a Special Government Adviser working successively for the Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretaries of State
Danny Alexander
MP and Michael Moore
MP at the Scotland Office
.
He later resigned from his special adviser role in June 2010 to stand for the Scottish Parliament
in the May 2011 elections. Despite the overall collapse of the party in the election he managed to be elected as an additional member
for the Mid Scotland and Fife region
with 5.9% of the regional list vote. He was soon after elected unopposed as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrat party
, replacing Tavish Scott
.
and grew up in Strathmiglo
, where his family ran the village shop and still live today. His mother was secretary of the local community association and his grandfather was the local Minister.
He went to Bell Baxter High School
in Cupar, Fife
before going to Paisley College of Technology, where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Biology. After that, he received a Diploma in Industrial Administration at Glasgow College.
He lives in Kelty
with his wife Janet and their two young sons, Alexander and Stephen. He is a keen runner and is a member of Dunfermline
's Carnegie Harriers. He was also runner-up in the 2006 Scottish Coal-Carrying Championships held in Kelty. Rennie was one of the 50 MPs who ran a mile to raise money for Sport Relief
finishing close behind the winner, David Davies.
. Rennie ran the Scottish Young Liberal Democrats (later reformed as Liberal Youth Scotland
) and after graduation went on to work for the English Liberal Democrats in Cornwall
.
He then went on to work for the Liberal Democrats
' campaigns department
, and was the successful agent
in the 1993 Christchurch by-election
in Dorset
.
After managing the party's campaigns in the South West England
region, securing the return of a sizeable number of new MPs in the 1997 General Election
, he moved back to Scotland where he was Chief Executive of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
from 1997 to 1999, and then the party's Chief of Staff
in the new Scottish Parliament
from 1999-2001.
From 2001 to 2006 he worked for the small Scottish communications firm, McEwan Purvis as an account director helping advise businesses and charities such as the Royal Society of Chemistry
and Asthma UK. During his time at McEwan Purvis, Rennie was a press adviser to Fife Council's Liberal Democrat Opposition Group and a member of the Dunfermline Focus editorial team, working with Dunfermline's Lib Dem councillors on local issues.
Following the death of Rachel Squire
MP, Rennie stood in the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election
on 9 February 2006 and overturned a huge Labour majority to win the seat. In the House of Commons, he was a member of the Liberal Democrat shadow defence team, chair of their parliamentary campaigns unit, and a member of the Commons Defence Select Committee.
During his time as an MP, he campaigned on local constituency issues such as abolishing the bridge tolls, changing the law to protect female learner drivers from sex offenders, improvements to cancer services at Queen Margaret Hospital
, and local jobs (including at Longannet Power Station
and Rosyth Dockyard
).
In the General Election of 6 May 2010 Rennie lost his seat to the Labour candidate Thomas Docherty
. He was then for a time Special Advisor to the new Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretary Michael Moore
MP
Willie Rennie returned to front-line politics as an MSP
when he won a regional list seat for the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament's Mid-Scotland and Fife region at the Holyrood elections on 5 May 2011. He was the only new Lib Dem MSP to win a seat in this election.
After the resignation of the Scottish Liberal Democrats's
leader, Willie Rennie was made their new leader. He vowed to stand up to the "SNP
bulldozer" majority, and refused to distance his party from the UK Liberal Democrats
. He was highly praised in the wake of his election including the Lib Dem MP
Michael Moore
, who said of Rennie, "His energy, integrity and commitment make him the right person to lead our party in Scotland. As an experienced politician and a veteran campaigner he is ideally placed to promote our values in the new Scottish Parliament and throughout Scotland too."
and full fiscal federalism that would map out further devolution of powers after the 2011 Scotland Bill
is passed into statute. He explained: "We now want to look towards developing a home rule parliament where roughly the money that we would spend in the parliament we would raise. That would give the Scottish Parliament control over its own destiny and it would allow it to shape the future of Scotland in a more independent minded manner without actually separating Scotland from the rest of the UK."
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
(born 27 September 1967) is a Scottish politician and current Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...
.
After college, Rennie spent most of his early career as a Liberal Democrat campaigner and official before working as a public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
consultant in the private sector. He became the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife
Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)
Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies...
after a by-election win
Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, 2006
The Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, in Dunfermline and West Fife, Scotland, was held on 9 February 2006 following the death of sitting Labour MP Rachel Squire on 6 January. The by-election was the first seat to change hands in the 2005 Parliament when Willie Rennie won the seat for the...
in February 2006. He later lost this seat to Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in the May 2010 UK general election but was subsequently appointed in the same month by the newly formed UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition
United Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)
The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the 2010 coalition agreement, setting out a programme for government...
as a Special Government Adviser working successively for the Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretaries of State
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
Danny Alexander
Danny Alexander
Daniel Grian Alexander is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Chief Secretary to the Treasury since 2010. He has been the Member of Parliament for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency since 2005....
MP and Michael Moore
Michael Moore (UK politician)
Michael Kevin Moore is a British Liberal Democrat politician, currently the Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK coalition government, and the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk....
MP at the Scotland Office
Scotland Office
The Scotland Office is a United Kingdom government department headed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and responsible for Scottish affairs...
.
He later resigned from his special adviser role in June 2010 to stand for the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in the May 2011 elections. Despite the overall collapse of the party in the election he managed to be elected as an additional member
Mixed member proportional representation
Mixed-member proportional representation, also termed mixed-member proportional voting and commonly abbreviated to MMP, is a voting system originally used to elect representatives to the German Bundestag, and nowadays adopted by numerous legislatures around the world...
for the Mid Scotland and Fife region
Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
Mid Scotland and Fife is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
with 5.9% of the regional list vote. He was soon after elected unopposed as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrat party
Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2011
The 2011 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was triggered by the resignation of party leader Tavish Scott on 7 May 2011, due to the very poor showing of the party at the 2011 Scottish parliament election, in which the Liberal Democrats only returned 5 MSPs and lost 12.Nominations for...
, replacing Tavish Scott
Tavish Scott
Tavish Hamilton Scott MSP is a Scottish politician and MSP for Shetland. He was Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011...
.
Background
Rennie was born in FifeFife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
and grew up in Strathmiglo
Strathmiglo
Strathmiglo is a village in Fife, Scotland on the River Eden. The population is around 1000. Nearby settlements include Auchtermuchty and Falkland....
, where his family ran the village shop and still live today. His mother was secretary of the local community association and his grandfather was the local Minister.
He went to Bell Baxter High School
Bell Baxter High School
Bell Baxter High School is a non-denominational comprehensive state school for 11-18 year olds in Cupar, Fife, Scotland.-School history:Bell Baxter High School was descended from the Cupar Grammar School and was founded in 1889 when the Madras Academy combined with the Sir David Baxter's Institute...
in Cupar, Fife
Cupar
Cupar is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town is situated between Dundee and the New Town of Glenrothes.According to a recent population estimate , Cupar had a population around 8,980 making the town the ninth largest settlement in Fife.-History:The town is believed to have...
before going to Paisley College of Technology, where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Biology. After that, he received a Diploma in Industrial Administration at Glasgow College.
He lives in Kelty
Kelty
Kelty is located in Fife, Scotland. Kelty is a former coal mining village in the heart of the old mining heartlands of Fife. It is situated on the Fife/Kinross-shire boundary with a population of around 6,000 residents This was nearer to 9,000 when the mining industry was still operational in...
with his wife Janet and their two young sons, Alexander and Stephen. He is a keen runner and is a member of Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
's Carnegie Harriers. He was also runner-up in the 2006 Scottish Coal-Carrying Championships held in Kelty. Rennie was one of the 50 MPs who ran a mile to raise money for Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
finishing close behind the winner, David Davies.
Career
While a student at the Paisley College of Technology he was deputy president of the student unionStudent union
Student union may refer to:* Students' union, or student government in the U.S., a student organization at many colleges and universities dedicated to student governance...
. Rennie ran the Scottish Young Liberal Democrats (later reformed as Liberal Youth Scotland
Liberal Youth Scotland
Liberal Youth Scotland is the youth and students wing of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Reformed from the Scottish Young Liberal Democrats in 2008, the organisation has taken a prominent role in party conferences...
) and after graduation went on to work for the English Liberal Democrats in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
He then went on to work for the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
' campaigns department
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
, and was the successful agent
Election agent
In elections in the United Kingdom, as well as in certain other similar political systems such as India's, an election agent is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is sent to by those running the election. In elections in...
in the 1993 Christchurch by-election
Christchurch by-election, 1993
A by-election was held in the British House of Commons constituency of Christchurch on 29 July 1993 following the death of sitting Conservative MP Robert Adley....
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
.
After managing the party's campaigns in the South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
region, securing the return of a sizeable number of new MPs in the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, he moved back to Scotland where he was Chief Executive of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...
from 1997 to 1999, and then the party's Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
in the new Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
from 1999-2001.
From 2001 to 2006 he worked for the small Scottish communications firm, McEwan Purvis as an account director helping advise businesses and charities such as the Royal Society of Chemistry
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
and Asthma UK. During his time at McEwan Purvis, Rennie was a press adviser to Fife Council's Liberal Democrat Opposition Group and a member of the Dunfermline Focus editorial team, working with Dunfermline's Lib Dem councillors on local issues.
Following the death of Rachel Squire
Rachel Squire
Rachel Anne Squire was a British Labour Party politician in Scotland. She was the Member of Parliament for Dunfermline West from 1992 to 2005, and then for Dunfermline and West Fife from 2005 until her death after a long series of illnesses.-Background:Squire was born in Carshalton, Surrey, England...
MP, Rennie stood in the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election
Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, 2006
The Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, in Dunfermline and West Fife, Scotland, was held on 9 February 2006 following the death of sitting Labour MP Rachel Squire on 6 January. The by-election was the first seat to change hands in the 2005 Parliament when Willie Rennie won the seat for the...
on 9 February 2006 and overturned a huge Labour majority to win the seat. In the House of Commons, he was a member of the Liberal Democrat shadow defence team, chair of their parliamentary campaigns unit, and a member of the Commons Defence Select Committee.
During his time as an MP, he campaigned on local constituency issues such as abolishing the bridge tolls, changing the law to protect female learner drivers from sex offenders, improvements to cancer services at Queen Margaret Hospital
Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline
Queen Margaret Hospital is located in Dunfermline and one of two main hospitals in the kingdom of Fife. Queen Margaret caters for Dunfermline and the West Fife catchment area. The hospital has 21 wards, with five car park areas situated around the building to the East, South and West and an energy...
, and local jobs (including at Longannet Power Station
Longannet power station
Longannet power station is a large coal-fired power station in Fife capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine on Forth. Its generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts is the highest of any power station in...
and Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
).
In the General Election of 6 May 2010 Rennie lost his seat to the Labour candidate Thomas Docherty
Thomas Docherty (politician)
Thomas Docherty is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Dunfermline and West Fife since 2010....
. He was then for a time Special Advisor to the new Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretary Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Willie Rennie returned to front-line politics as an MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
when he won a regional list seat for the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament's Mid-Scotland and Fife region at the Holyrood elections on 5 May 2011. He was the only new Lib Dem MSP to win a seat in this election.
After the resignation of the Scottish Liberal Democrats's
Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...
leader, Willie Rennie was made their new leader. He vowed to stand up to the "SNP
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
bulldozer" majority, and refused to distance his party from the UK Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. He was highly praised in the wake of his election including the Lib Dem MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Michael Moore
Michael Moore (UK politician)
Michael Kevin Moore is a British Liberal Democrat politician, currently the Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK coalition government, and the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk....
, who said of Rennie, "His energy, integrity and commitment make him the right person to lead our party in Scotland. As an experienced politician and a veteran campaigner he is ideally placed to promote our values in the new Scottish Parliament and throughout Scotland too."
Home Rule commission plan
On September 2011, Willie Rennie announced plans for a commission building on the work of 2006 Lord Steel Commission to develop a blueprint for Home RuleHome rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
and full fiscal federalism that would map out further devolution of powers after the 2011 Scotland Bill
Scotland Bill 2011
The Scotland Bill is a bill proposed by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition UK Government, with broad support from the opposition Labour Party, setting out amendments to the Scotland Act 1998, with the aim of devolving further powers to Scotland....
is passed into statute. He explained: "We now want to look towards developing a home rule parliament where roughly the money that we would spend in the parliament we would raise. That would give the Scottish Parliament control over its own destiny and it would allow it to shape the future of Scotland in a more independent minded manner without actually separating Scotland from the rest of the UK."
Smear allegations
On 31 October 2011, Willie Rennie was at the centre of controversy after an offensive cartoon was published in his name depicting Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond MSP in Arab dress with his skin apparently artificially darkened. The cartoon, which was published on Willie Rennie's facebook page and through his twitter feed, followed a comment in which Alex Salmond noted "remarkable similarities" between Scotland and Qatar. The cartoon suggested an independent Scotland would share such attributes of Qatar as an absolute monarchy, the rejection of gay rights and the imposition of the death penalty. Willie Rennie later publicly apologised for the cartoon, saying he had not authorised its publication.Career timeline
- 1979–1985: Bell Baxter High SchoolBell Baxter High SchoolBell Baxter High School is a non-denominational comprehensive state school for 11-18 year olds in Cupar, Fife, Scotland.-School history:Bell Baxter High School was descended from the Cupar Grammar School and was founded in 1889 when the Madras Academy combined with the Sir David Baxter's Institute...
- 1985–1989: Paisley College
- 1989–1990: Glasgow College
- 1990–1997: Liberal DemocratsLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Campaigns Department (South West EnglandSouth West EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
region) - 1997–1999: Chief Executive of the Scottish Liberal DemocratsScottish Liberal DemocratsThe Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...
- 1999–2001: Parliamentary Party Chief of Staff, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- 2001–2006: consultant, shareholder, director and account manager at McEwan Purvis, a public/media relations consultancy
- Press adviser to Liberal Democrat Fife Council Opposition Group
- February 2006 – May 2010: MP for Dunfermline and West FifeDunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies...
- Chairman of the Liberal Democrats Campaigns and Communications Committee (appointed in 2007-2010 Shadow Cabinet of Nick CleggShadow Cabinet of Nick CleggThe list that follows is the Shadow Cabinet led by Nick Clegg from 2007 to 2010, before the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives formed a coalition government following the 2010 general eletion, and Clegg became Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom....
) - Shadow Minister for Defence (Liberal Democrat Frontbench TeamLiberal Democrat Frontbench TeamThe Liberal Democrats are the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. While in opposition, the Liberal Democrat leader appointed a team of Members of Parliament and Peers to speak for the party on different issues. Their areas of responsibility broadly corresponded to those of...
, 2006–2007Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team, 2006–2007This article is about the Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team led by Menzies Campbell from 2 March 2006 to 15 October 2007.- Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet:*Leader of the Liberal Democrats - Sir Walter Menzies Campbell, CBE, QC...
, 2007–2010Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team, 2007–2010This article is about the Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team led by Nick Clegg from December 2007 to May 2010, when he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government led by David Cameron....
) - Member of the Commons Defence Select Committee (2006 - 2008)
- appointed as a Parliamentary Whip in 2008
- Chairman of the Liberal Democrats Campaigns and Communications Committee (appointed in 2007-2010 Shadow Cabinet of Nick Clegg
- May–June 2010: Special Adviser at the Scotland OfficeScotland OfficeThe Scotland Office is a United Kingdom government department headed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and responsible for Scottish affairs...
to the Secretary of State for ScotlandSecretary of State for ScotlandThe Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
, Danny AlexanderDanny AlexanderDaniel Grian Alexander is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Chief Secretary to the Treasury since 2010. He has been the Member of Parliament for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency since 2005....
MP and laterly Michael MooreMichael Moore (UK politician)Michael Kevin Moore is a British Liberal Democrat politician, currently the Secretary of State for Scotland in the UK coalition government, and the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk....
MP - August 2010– 2011: Self-employed communications consultant
- May 2011–: MSP for Mid-Scotland and FifeMid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)Mid Scotland and Fife is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
- May 2011: elected Leader of the Scottish Liberal DemocratsScottish Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2011The 2011 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election was triggered by the resignation of party leader Tavish Scott on 7 May 2011, due to the very poor showing of the party at the 2011 Scottish parliament election, in which the Liberal Democrats only returned 5 MSPs and lost 12.Nominations for...
External links
- Scottish Parliament page
- Willie Rennie MP official Liberal Democrats profile
- Willie Rennie MP official Scottish Liberal Democrats profile
- Dunfermline and West Fife Liberal Democrats
- BBC Profile