Constituency : Edinburgh West 2001-2010
John took over from Donald Gorrie at Edinburgh West. He held the seat very easily.
John was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He was educated at Forrester High School and Napier Polytechnic. He became a teaching assistant at Cornell University New York for a time. He joined the Liberals in 1980 and became Donald Gorrie's election agent. He was elected to Edinburgh City Council in 1995 and immediately became chairman of the Liberal Democrat group.
John became a spokesman on international development. In 2005, Charles Kennedy made him shadow minister for Scotland in addition to this. Nick Clegg added work and pensions to his portfolio. He was a founding member of the Beveridge Group within the party. He opposed renewal of Trident and nuclear power. He described himself as a campaigner not a career politician.
In 2005 John made Edinburgh West the second safest Liberal Democrat seat in the UK.
John told Mark Oaten to shut up about his travails in 2006.
John stood down in 2010. He has varied business interests. He is a director of ABC Productions and on the advisory board of the Edinburgh Film Festival. He also trains parliamentarians in new democracies for the Western Foundation for Democracy.
In 2012 John fought a successful battle against cancer.
John was a fierce critic of the coalition government's policies in an article in 2014. He also came out in favour of Scottish independence in the referendum campaign.
He is now 65.
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