Andy Wightman

Andrew Dearg Wightman is an Independent Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region. He was elected as a member of the Scottish Greens. He is also a writer and researcher best known for his work on land ownership in Scotland. He is the author of Who Owns Scotland (1996) and The Poor Had No Lawyers (2015).

Andy Wightman

MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Lothian
Assumed office
5 May 2016
Personal details
BornDundee, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Political partyIndependent (2020–present)
Other political
affiliations		Scottish Green Party (2009–2020)
ResidenceEdinburgh, Scotland
Alma materUniversity of Aberdeen
OccupationMSP, writer, political activist
Websitewww.andywightman.com

Background

Wightman was born in Dundee. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1985 with a degree in forestry.[1][2] He was a co-founder of Reforesting Scotland, a group dedicated to substantial reforestation.[3]

He began his career as a scientist working on renewable energy at the University of Aberdeen and then as a Projects Officer with Central Scotland Countryside Trust. He became a self-employed writer and researcher in 1993. Over the next 20 years, he contributed to a wide range of debates on land use, land reform, the Crown estate, common good land, local democracy and fiscal reform. Author of a number of reports on these topics, he also served as a Specialist Adviser to the UK Parliament's Scottish Affairs Committee Inquiry on land reform 2014–2015.

He appeared in the documentary You've Been Trumped (2011), which dealt with Donald Trump's controversial golf course development at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire where he advised Michael Forbes on his land dispute with Trump,[4] as well as the 2016 sequel You've Been Trumped Too.[5]

He was coordinator of the Land Action Scotland campaign. The campaign has the stated aim of supporting local residents through seeking to democratise companies that are run by a handful of people who are not living on the land involved.[6][7]

In February 2015, Wightman was announced as being a member of the Commission on Local Tax Reform.[8] This cross-party group was set up by the Scottish Government, tasked with examining alternatives to the Council Tax. The final report Just Change: A New Approach to Local Taxation was published on 14 December 2015.

Political career

Wightman became a member of the Scottish Greens in 2009.[9] In March 2015, the Scottish Greens balloted their members to select candidates for the 2016 election, and Wightman was placed second on their Lothian list.[10] He was elected as an MSP on 5 May 2016.[11] On 23 May he was announced as the Scottish Greens spokesperson on Communities (including Housing), Land Reform and Local Government.[12]

On 18 December 2020, Wightman announced his resignation from the Scottish Greens following a vote on an amendment to the Forensic Services Bill, alleging that while the Party had “a strong commitment to equalities and trans rights”, it displayed "intolerance" by doing so.[13][14]

Published work
  • Who Owns Scotland (Canongate, 1996)[15][16]
  • Scotland: land and power. An agenda for land reform (Luath, 1999)
  • The Poor Had No Lawyers (Birlinn Books, Third Edition, 2015)[17]

References
  1. Wightman, Andy (February 2012). "Forest Ownership in Scotland: A Scoping Study" (PDF). Forest Policy Group. p. 4. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  2. "Author biography: Andy Wightman". Birlinn. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  3. Wightman, Andy (16 January 2011). "We can transform our countryside. Put forests in the hands of the people". The Observer. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  4. "You've Been Trumped (2011) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  5. "Trump issues legal threat over new film". www.scotsman.com. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  6. "Community bids for Applecross and Mount Stuart trusts". BBC News. BBC. 28 September 2012.
  7. "Charles Kennedy criticises Applecross Trust decision". BBC News. BBC. 14 November 2012.
  8. "Commission on Local Tax Reform" (Press release). Scottish Government. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  9. Sanderson, Daniel (5 May 2016). "Andy Wightman may be a new face for the Scottish Greens but he is no stranger to Holyrood". The Herald. glasgow. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  10. "Scottish Greens regional list candidates". Holyrood. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  11. "Land reform expert Andy Wightman elected as Green MSP". Edinburgh Evening News. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  12. "Scottish Greens announce portfolios of new Holyrood group". The Herald. Glasgow. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  13. "Resignation from the Scottish Green Party". 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. Libby Brooks; Severin Carrell (18 December 2020). "Scottish Greens MSP resigns claiming 'intolerance' over women and trans rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  15. Who owns Scotland. Edinburgh : Canongate, 1996. WorldCat. OCLC 35137079.
  16. Arlidge, John (25 February 1996). "Who owns Scotland?". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  17. The poor had no lawyers: who owns Scotland and (how they got it). Edinburgh : Birlinn, 2015. WorldCat. OCLC 923175798.
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