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Alan Reid
Alan Reid
Member of Parliament ; for Argyll and Bute
	In office; 7 June 2001 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Ray Michie
Succeeded by	Brendan O'Hara
Personal details
Born	7 August 1954 (age 70); Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrat
Alma mater	University of Strathclyde

Alan Reid (born 7 August 1954, Ayr, Scotland) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been a councillor in the East Dunbartonshire ward of Bearsden North since 2022.^[1]

He was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Argyll and Bute from 2001 to 2015, when he lost his seat to the Scottish National Party (SNP) at the 2015 general election. He was first elected at the 2001 general election.

Background

Reid was educated at Ayr Academy and the University of Strathclyde where he gained a BSc in Mathematics. Prior to his election to the House of Commons he worked for the University of Glasgow as a computer project manager. He remains a member of the AUT (Association of University Teachers).

He was a councillor on Renfrew District Council from 1988 to 1996.

Parliamentary career

Reid contested Paisley South in a 1990 by-election and the 1992 general election and Dumbarton in 1997, before being elected for Argyll and Bute in 2001.

In the 2010 Parliament, he served on the Scottish Affairs Committee.^[2] In the previous Parliament he was the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Northern Ireland Office and Scotland Office matters. He has also served as a Liberal Democrat whip.^[2]

During the MPs expenses scandal, The Daily Telegraph drew attention to Reid's claims of over £1500 for stays in B&B's within his own constituency. Reid argued overnight stays were necessary where ferry timetables made it impossible to return to his constituency home, and said he had successfully challenged initially rejected expense claims by explaining the geography of Argyll and Bute.^[3]

Reid unsuccessfully stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate in his former seat of Argyll and Bute at the 2017 and 2019 general elections

2016 Scottish Parliament Elections

At the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary elections, Reid stood for the constituency of Argyll and Bute. ^[4]

Argyll and Bute Council

At the Scottish local government elections held In May 2017, Reid stood as a candidate for the 3 member Ward of Cowal (Ward 6) in Argyll and Bute Council. Reid finished in third place, behind William Blair (SNP) and Yvonne McNeilly (Scottish Conservative), and received 791 first preference votes (22.7% of votes cast). Reid was duly elected as a councillor for the Ward of Cowal. At the Scottish local government elections held in May 2022, Reid did not seek re-election for the Cowal ward, and was replaced as a Liberal Democrat councillor for the ward of Cowal by William Sinclair at the 2022 Scottish Local Government elections. Reid instead chose to be a candidate for the ward of Bearsden North in East Dunbartonshire Council.

2021 Scottish Parliament Elections

He was the lead list candidate for the Liberal Democrats in the Highlands and Islands electoral region for the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary elections as well as being the constituency candidate for Argyll and Bute. The Liberal Democrat vote share in the Highlands and Islands region fell from 13.3% at the 2016 elections to 11.2%. Reid's vote share in the constituency vote fell from 25.7% at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election to 20.5%, and he finished third in Argyll and Bute.^[5]

East Dunbartonshire Council

For the 2022 Scottish local elections, Reid was announced as a candidate for Bearsden North in East Dunbartonshire.^[6] On 6 May 2022, he was elected in this 3-member ward alongside Calum Smith of the SNP and independent candidate Duncan Cumming. He finished fourth on the first round of voting with 12.42% of the vote (which was a fall in the vote share of 17.97% achieved by the previous Liberal Democrat candidate Rosie O'Neill, who was elected as a councillor for the ward at the 2016 Scottish Local Government Elections) and he was elected at the sixth stage of the voting process. ^[7]

General Election 2024

In November 2023, Reid was selected to contest Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber at the 2024 general election.^[8] This was a new constituency, following the boundary changes which took effect at the 2024 General Election. He polled 16.4% of the vote in the constituency at the election, a 2.3% increase in the vote share compared to the notional result for the constituency at the previous General Election in 2019.