John Swinburne is the founder of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party and was that party"s sole representative in the Scottish Parliament from 2003 until 2007.
Background
Swinburne was born in Pennsylvania, United States.
Education
He was educated at Dalziel High School, Motherwell.
Career
In 2003 he stood for election as the SSCUP candidate and gained a regional seat for Central Scotland. Swinburne has called for reintroduction of the "Belt" or "Tawse" into Scottish schools, expressing the opinion that corporal punishment would solve what he believes are endemic discipline problems. In 2006 his statement was condemned by other MSPs and by the teaching union, the Executive Information System . He stood for election again in the 2007 election but lost his seat, only polling 2% of the vote.
In May 2009, at age 78, Swinburne announced he was planning to stand for the United Kingdom Parliament in the Glasgow North East by-election, 2009.
He later withdrew from this election, due to "unforeseen circumstances". He is a former director of Motherwell Football Club.
