John Barrett MP
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West
Incumbent
Assumed office  7 June 2001
Preceded by	Donald Gorrie
Majority	13,600 (30.0%)
Born	11 February 1954 (1954-02-11) (age 55) Hobart. Tasmania, Australia
Political party	Liberal Democrat
Spouse(s)	Carol
Children	1 daughter
Alma mater	Napier College

John Andrew Barrett (born 11 February 1954) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician and the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West.

[edit] Early life

Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Barrett was educated at the Forrester High School in Edinburgh, Telford College and Napier College of Commerce and Technology (as it then was). Since 1985, he has been a director of ABC Productions Ltd in Edinburgh: originally the company made training videos, but is now a printer and publisher.

He was elected to the City of Edinburgh Council for South-East Corstorphine ward in 1995 and was the Chairman of the Liberal Democrat Group from 1995. He was the election agent for Donald Gorrie in Edinburgh West at the 1997 General Election. He contested the inaugural Scottish Parliament elections in 1999 for the seat of Linlithgow and he was defeated by Mary Mulligan.

[edit] Parliamentary career

In 2000, Donald Gorrie decided to stand down from Westminster and concentrate on the Scottish Parliament. Barrett won the nomination to defend Edinburgh West at the 2001 General Election, which he did so by a comfortable margin of 7,589 votes. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 13 July 2001.^[1]

Barrett sat on the International Development Select Committee between 2001 and 2007,^[2] and was made a party spokesman on International Development in 2003. He was promoted by Charles Kennedy in December 2005 to Shadow Minister of State for Scotland, before returning to international development in March 2007. Since 2008 he has been a spokesman on Work and Pensions with a focus on disability issues.

Barrett has fought prominent campaigns against the trade in cat and dog fur.^[3][4]

Following the boundary changes in 2005, Edinburgh West now includes the areas of Stenhouse and Murrayfield. He was re-elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005, with a majority of 13,600 over the nearest (Conservative) candidate, in a seat which the Lib Dems had won for the first time only eight years before.

Barrett is a founding member of the Beveridge Group within the Liberal Democrats.^[5] Since 2000, he has also been Vice President of the Scottish Liberal Club.

On 25 July 2009, Barrett announced that he would be standing down from Parliament at the 2010 general election.^[6]

[edit] Personal life

He married Carol, a wildlife artist and former artist-in-residence at Edinburgh Zoo, on the day that Arthur Ashe won the Men's Singles title at Wimbledon. They have a daughter, Sarah, and two granddaughters, Maria and Hope.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• John Barrett MP official site
• John Barrett MP profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
• John Barrett MP profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats
• ePolitix.com - John Barrett MP
• Guardian Politics: Ask Aristotle - John Barrett MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - John Barrett MP
• The Public Whip - John Barrett MP voting record
• BBC News - John Barrett MP profile 10 February 2005

[edit] News items

• Plane crash report in August 2002