Education
Born in Dunfermline in 1962, Wishart was educated at Queen Anne High School Dunfermline and Moray House College, Edinburgh.
Born in Dunfermline in 1962, Wishart was educated at Queen Anne High School Dunfermline and Moray House College, Edinburgh.
He was previously the Member of Parliament for North Tayside from 2001. He is currently the Scottish National Party Shadow Leader of the House in the and the chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee. He has previously served as the Scottish National Party"s Westminster Spokesperson for the Constitution and for Culture and Sport and Chief Whip.
Wishart is the former keyboard player of the Scottish Celtic rock band Runrig.
Wishart lives in Perth and has one son and enjoys walking in the Perthshire hills. Wishart is a trained Community Worker and has been a Director of the Fast Forward charity that promotes healthy lifestyles for young people.
He was first elected to the at the 2001 general election, taking John Swinney"s old seat of Tayside North. Since arriving at Westminster, he has served as the Scottish National Party"s Chief Whip, in which role he has pressed the government for greater parliamentary rights, such as better representation on committees, for both the Scottish National Party and other minority parties.
He has also campaigned for copyright term extension and is a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group.
The Perth and North Perthshire seat was created after boundary changes in Scotland and takes in East and Highland Perthshire, the City of Perth and the Carse of Gowrie. Wishart sat on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee. In November 2010, Wishart suggested that Scottish football referees should declare which club sides they support.
In January 2015, Wishart secured and started a debate on the reform of the House of Lords.
Politically, he is well known for campaigning to demolish Perth"s listed City Hall, dating from 1911, and replace it with an open square. He has described the building as "unused, unloved and increasingly unwelcome", "a building whose time has past", and said that, “A city square will allow us to attract visitors, grow our cafe quarter, put on outdoor events and properly organise civic and community events.
Every city needs civic space and we must ensure that we will soon have ours.” Following the 2015 general election it was announced in June 2015 that he would chair the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, with his appointment formally announced on 19 June 2015.
53rd United Kingdom Parliament. 54th United Kingdom Parliament. 55th United Kingdom Parliament.
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He was a member of the Scotland Against Drugs Campaign Committee and has contributed to many national forums looking at the problem of drugs within Scottish society.
Wishart was for 15 years a member of the Scottish group Runrig, and was the first Member of Parliament to have appeared on the television show Top of the Pops.