Alasdair Allan is the Scottish Government"s Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland"s Languages and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Na h-Eileanan an Iar.
Education
A native of Ashkirk, near Selkirk, Alasdair Allan attended Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities and devoted his time and employment to the Scottish National Party (Scottish National Party) in Peterhead, working for Alex Salmond Member of Parliament, the now former First Minister of Scotland, and he subsequently became assistant to Michael Russell Managing Successful Programmes.
Career
Allan was the Scottish National Party candidate for Gordon at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. As National Secretary of the Scottish National Party, he was responsible in July 2004 for the expulsion of Campbell Martin Managing Successful Programmes from the party after Martin had claimed that there was a case for supporters of independence not voting Scottish National Party. Alasdair Allan was next in line to become a list Managing Successful Programmes for North East Scotland when Richard Lochhead resigned to fight the Moray by-election, however he decided instead to devote himself to contesting the Western Isles, a key Labour-Scottish National Party marginal seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary election. He relocated to Lewis and resigned his post as Scottish National Party National Secretary.
This move proved successful, as he was elected with 46.6% of the vote — a 5.4% swing from Labour.
In the 2011 Scottish Parliament General Election Allan again stood for the Scottish National Party in the now renamed seat of Na h-Eileanan an Iar and increased his majority, returning to Holyrood with 65.3% of the vote, an increase of 18.7% and a swing of 15.8% from Labour. He is a speaker and strong supporter of Scottish Gaelic and Lowland Scots and holds a Doctor of Philosophy on the latter.
He authored the booklet Talking Independence, which sought to answer questions about Scottish independence, ranging from "What will I pay in tax?" to "Will I still be able to visit relatives in England?" and "Will we still get EastEnders?". Allan voted against Same-sex marriage in Scotland, saying he "favours the traditional definition of marriage" - in contrast to the position of the majority of the Scottish National Party governent.