Keith Raffan

Keith William Twort Raffan (born 21 June 1949) is a former British politician. From 1983 to 1992, he served in the British House of Commons as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the Delyn constituency in Wales. Then from 1999 to 2005, he was a Scottish Liberal Democrat Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Early life Raffan was born in Aberdeen and educated at Robert Gordon's College, Trinity College, Glenalmond, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Prior to entering parliament he was a parliamentary sketchwriter for the Daily Express. He joined the Liberal Democrats that same year, and after working as a broadcaster and public relations consultant in New York and for Welsh TV channel HTV moved to Scotland.

In the 1999 Scottish Parliament election Raffan was elected as a regional list MSP to represent Mid Scotland and Fife. He was one of three Liberal Democrat MSPs – along with Donald Gorrie and John Farquhar Munro – who opposed the coalition with the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament, and was alone among his Liberal Democrat colleagues in not backing Donald Dewar for First Minister (he abstained from the vote). Noted for his flamboyant and theatrical manner when participating in debate, early in the parliament's first term he gained notoriety for tabling 38 written questions in one day.

Raffan was re-elected at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, and became a Vice Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. However, in December 2004 he was subject to wide criticism for claiming abnormally large expense costs from the Scottish Parliament, including travel in his Fife constituency at times when he was known to be in Parliament in Edinburgh. The following month he resigned as an MSP, citing ill-health (and not the controversy his expense claims had caused or the accusations of inappropriate sexual and bullying behaviour towards his staff) as the reason.

He faced further criticism after his resignation for working at ITV Wales despite being "too sick to work". He was replaced in his seat by Andrew Arbuckle, who had been next on the Liberal Democrat list for Mid Scotland and Fife in 2003. As of 2018, he was reportedly no longer a member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

After politics In the run up to the 2018 local elections, Raffan wrote a letter to the Evening Standard declaring that he was going to vote for the Labour Party in Kensington, where he was living.

He has subsequently left his third political party and now considers himself an independent.