Nationality British Spouse Janet Rennie (m. 1992) Citizenship United Kingdom Role Politician | Name Willie Rennie Children 2 sons | |
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Born 27 September 1967 (age 57) Fife, Scotland ( 1967-09-27 ) Education University of the West of Scotland Profiles | ||
Willie rennie and tommy sheridan debating scottish independence in dunfermline
William Cowan Rennie (born 27 September 1967) is Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats after he succeeded the post in May 2011.
Contents
- Willie rennie and tommy sheridan debating scottish independence in dunfermline
- First minister alex salmond owns willie rennie and lib dems
- Early life and education
- Early political career 19902001
- McEwan Purvis 20012006
- Member of Parliament 20062010
- Special Adviser and consultant 20102011
- Elected MSP and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats 2011present
- Home Rule commission plan
- Armed Forces Legal Action
- Career timeline
- References
After college, Rennie spent most of his early career as a Liberal Democrat election campaigner and official before working as a public relations consultant in the private sector. He became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife after a by-election win in February 2006. He later lost this seat to Labour in the May 2010 UK general election. He briefly served as a Special Government Adviser for the Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretaries of State Danny Alexander MP and Michael Moore MP at the Scotland Office.
He was then elected to the Scottish Parliament in the May 2011 election. He elected as an additional member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. He was soon after elected unopposed as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, replacing Tavish Scott. Since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Rennie has held the constituency seat of North East Fife.
First minister alex salmond owns willie rennie and lib dems
Early life and education
Rennie was born in Fife and grew up in Strathmiglo, where his family ran the village shop and still live today. His mother was secretary of the local community association and his grandfather was the local Minister.
Rennie went to Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, Fife, before going to Paisley College of Technology, where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Biology. After that, he received a Diploma in Industrial Administration at Glasgow College.
Rennie lives in Kelty with his wife Janet and their two sons, Alexander and Stephen. He is a keen runner and is a member of Dunfermline's Carnegie Harriers. He was also runner-up in the 2006 Scottish Coal-Carrying Championships held in Kelty. Rennie was one of the 50 MPs who ran a mile to raise money for Sport Relief finishing close behind the winner, David Davies.
Early political career: 1990–2001
While a student at the Paisley College of Technology he was deputy president of the student union. Rennie ran the Scottish Young Liberal Democrats (later reformed as Liberal Youth Scotland) and after graduation went on to work for the English Liberal Democrats in Cornwall.
He then went on to work for the Liberal Democrats' campaigns department, and was the successful agent in the 1993 Christchurch by-election in Dorset.
After managing the party's campaigns in the South West England region, securing the return of a sizeable number of new MPs in the 1997 General Election, he moved back to Scotland where he was Chief Executive of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 1997 to 1999, and then the party's Chief of Staff in the new Scottish Parliament from 1999–2001.
McEwan Purvis: 2001–2006
From 2001 to 2006 he worked for the small Scottish communications firm McEwan Purvis as an account director helping advise businesses and charities such as the Royal Society of Chemistry and Asthma UK. During his time at McEwan Purvis, Rennie was a press adviser to Fife Council's Liberal Democrat Opposition Group and a member of the Dunfermline Focus editorial team, working with Dunfermline's Lib Dem councillors on local issues.
Member of Parliament: 2006–2010
After the Labour MP Rachel Squire died, Rennie stood in the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election on 9 February 2006 and overturned a Labour majority of 1,800 to win the seat with a swing to his party of 16.24%. In the House of Commons, he was a member of the Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson team, chair of their parliamentary campaigns unit, and a member of the Commons Defence Select Committee.
During his time as an MP, he campaigned on local constituency issues such as abolishing the bridge tolls, changing the law to protect female learner drivers from sex offenders, improvements to cancer services at Queen Margaret Hospital, and local jobs (including at Longannet Power Station and Rosyth Dockyard).
In the General Election of 6 May 2010, Rennie lost his seat to the Labour candidate Thomas Docherty.
Special Adviser and consultant: 2010–2011
He was then for a time Special Adviser to the new Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretary Michael Moore MP.
Elected MSP and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats: 2011–present
Willie Rennie returned to front-line politics as an MSP when he won a regional list seat for the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament's Mid Scotland and Fife region at the Holyrood elections on 5 May 2011. He was the only new Liberal Democrat MSP to win a seat in this election.
After the resignation of the Scottish Liberal Democrats's leader Tavish Scott, Willie Rennie stood in the resulting leadership election. He was the only candidate to be nominated, and was declared elected when the nominations closed on 17 May. He vowed to stand up to the "SNP bulldozer" majority, and refused to distance his party from the UK Liberal Democrats.
In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the Liberal Democrats again elected five MSPs, while gaining two constituency seats and holding their existing two with increased majorities. Rennie was elected in North East Fife, gaining it from the SNP with a 9.5% swing because he said we had to stop "The Divisive Second Independence Referendum"
Home Rule commission plan
In September 2011, Willie Rennie announced plans for a commission building on the work of 2006 Lord Steel Commission to develop a blueprint for Home Rule and full fiscal federalism that would map out further devolution of powers after the Scotland Bill 2011 is passed into statute.
Armed Forces Legal Action
Willie Rennie was appointed as an honorary patron of Armed Forces Legal Action (AFLA) in April 2014. AFLA is a network of UK law firms committed to offering discounted legal services to members of the UK Armed Forces community. AFLA was founded by Scottish solicitor and former Scottish Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Allan Steele, WS.