Sir James Angus Rhoderick Neil McGrigor, 6th Baronet (born 19 October 1949) is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician, who was an Argyll and Bute Councillor for the Oban South and the Isles Ward from 2017 to 2022. He had previously been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region from 1999 until 2016.

Sir
Jamie McGrigor
Official portrait, 2011
Member of Argyll and Bute Council
In office
4 May 2017 – 5 May 2022
Preceded byAlistair MacDougall
Succeeded byAmanda Hampsey
ConstituencyOban South and the Isles
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Highlands and Islands
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
In office
6 May 1999 – 24 March 2016
Personal details
Born
James Angus Rhoderick McGrigor

(1949-10-19) 19 October 1949 (age 75)
London, England
Political partyIndependent (since 2022)
Scottish Conservative Party (until 2022)
Alma materUniversity of Neuchâtel

Early life and career

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McGrigor was born in London in 1949 and educated at Cladich Primary School in Argyll and privately at Eton College. He studied Commercial French at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. After graduating, he worked in finance in the City of London and in the shipping sector in Glasgow. He also farmed sheep and cattle, and started a trout farm in Argyll in the early 1970s.[1]

Political career

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McGrigor stood unsuccessfully for the Western Isles in the 1997 general election. He fought Argyll and Bute in 2005, finishing second,[2] and fought the equivalent seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, finishing third.[3]

He served as Scottish Conservative spokesperson for fisheries, and communities and sport. He is also an Honorary Vice-President of English-Speaking Union Scotland.

McGrigor was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Scottish Register of Tartans. His Member's Bill was given support by the Scottish Government and was subsequently passed by the Scottish Parliament on 9 October 2008. This makes McGrigor one of the first MSPs to have passed a Private Member's Bill through the Scottish Parliament.

In 2017, he stood in the Argyll and Bute Council election and was elected to the Oban South and the Isles ward.[4]

Family

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McGrigor is the eldest son of the late Sir Charles McGrigor, 5th Bt, by his wife Mary Bettine (the historian Mary McGrigor),[5] daughter of Sir Charles Edmonstone, 6th Baronet. He is descended patrilineally from Sir James McGrigor, 1st Baronet, Wellington's Surgeon General serving the British Army in Spain during the Peninsular campaign, who received a baronetcy in 1831. Another distinguished relative was the late Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, grandson of the second Baronet and thus his first cousin twice removed.

Jamie became the 6th Baronet upon the death of his father, Sir Charles, on 1 October 2007.[6]

He has been twice married and has six children.[1] His son Alexander James Edward Lyon (born 1998), by his second marriage, is his heir apparent.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "MSP Jamie McGrigor to stand down in 2016". Scottish Conservatives. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Result: Argyll and Bute". BBC News Online. BBC. 6 May 2005. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. ^ "Argyll & Bute". BBC News Online. BBC. 4 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  4. ^ Campbell, Rita (6 May 2017). "Three-way tie close call in Argyll and Bute". Press and Journal. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Mary McGrigor F.S.A. Scot". Archived from the original on 4 September 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
  6. ^ "Sir Charles McGrigor". The Herald. Glasgow. 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  7. ^ Debrett's Peerage 2008

Bibliography

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Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baronet
(of Campden Hill in the County of Middlesex)
2007—present
Incumbent