Rob Gibson

Robert McKay Gibson (born 10 October 1945) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 2003 until 2016, first as a Highlands and Islands regional member from 2003 until 2011, then representing the Caithness, Sutherland and Ross constituency from 2011 until 2016.

Early life

Gibson was born in Glasgow on 10 October 1945. He was educated at the

Gibson stood as SNP candidate for the Inverness seat in the February 1974 United Kingdom general election.^[2] In the early 1980s, he was a member of the SNP 79 Group. He stood as a candidate for Ross, Cromarty and Skye in 1987 and again in 1992.^[2]

Gibson was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in the 2003 election from the Highlands and Islands regional list,^[3] and was re-elected for this region in 2007.^[4]

During the fourth Scottish Parliament, he was the Convener of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.^[5]

In 2012, the Scottish Renewables Green Energy Awards named him their Politician of the Year.^[6]

In May 2015 he announced that he would not stand for re-election in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.^[2]

Personal life

His partner is the former Highlands and Islands MSP, Eleanor Scott, of the Scottish Greens; they have two children, a son and a daughter.^[7]

Gibson is also a musician and an author, and has written several books about Highland history and emigration. These include Plaids and Bandanas, The Highland Clearances Trail and Highland Cowboys.^[8]

Bibliography

• The Promised Land?, Strollamus Crofers Defence Committee, January 1974
• Left, Right, Left, Right...?, in Burnett, Ray (ed.), Calgacus 1, Winter 1975, pp. 14–16,
  ISSN 0307-2029
• Cymraeg – a startling revival,
  ISSN 0307-2029
• review of The Break-up of Britain by Tom Nairn, in Easton, Norman (ed.), Crann-Tàra No. 1, Winter 1977, pp. 14 & 15
• It's Scotland's Soil, in Easton, Norman (ed.), Crann-Tàra No. 2, Spring 1978, pp. 8 & 9
• A Case for Producer Co-ops?, in Easton, Norman (ed.), Crann-Tàra No. 7, Summer 1979, pp. 3 & 14
• Land to the People, 79 Group News, October 1981, Glasgow
• Community Control: For Scottish Industry, in Dunn, Ian (ed.), Radical Scotland Summer '82, p. 21,
  ISSN 0262-6993
• Mightier than a Landlord, in Lawson, Alan (ed.), Radical Scotland Feb/Mar 1990, pp. 22 & 23,
  ISSN 0262-6993
• Toppling the
  ISBN 9780950988252
• contribution on Scottish National Party policies to Whose Party Line is it Anyway? General Election 1997, in Grant, Karen (ed.), Reforesting Scotland, Spring 1997,pp. 7–10,
  ISSN 0969-1367
• "The Battle to Save the
  ISSN 0969-1367
• The
  ISBN 9781905222100
• Reclaiming Our Land, Highland Heritage Educational Trust, 2020,
  ISBN 978-1-5272-8181-3