Tavish Scott

Tavish Hamilton Scott (born 6 May 1966) is a former Scottish politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Shetland from 1999 to 2019, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011. He stepped down as Leader following the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, in which the Liberal Democrats were reduced to five seats, down from 16 in the previous parliament.

Background, education and early career Scott was born on 6 May 1966 in Inverness, Scotland. He attended Anderson High School in Lerwick, Shetland, and holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies from Napier College in Edinburgh. After graduating, he worked as a parliamentary assistant to Jim Wallace, then as Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, and later as a Press Officer for the Scottish Liberal Democrats. He then returned to Shetland and became a farmer and also a councillor on the Shetland Islands Council and Chairman of the Lerwick Harbour Trust.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Scott was elected as the first Member of the Scottish Parliament for Shetland in May 1999. He was the first politician to represent Shetland as its own constituency (Orkney and Shetland are one constituency in Westminster). He served as a Deputy Minister for Parliament in the Scottish Executive from 2000 to 2001 in succession to his colleague Iain Smith, but resigned after refusing to support the Executive in a vote on a tie-up scheme for fishing.

In 2003, he returned to the Scottish Executive as Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services. During his time there his department piloted the Local Governance (Scotland) Act, which changed the elections for local authorities in Scotland to a proportional representation system. Following Nicol Stephen's election as party leader and succession as Deputy First Minister of Scotland in 2005, Scott was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Transport. and held the largest margin by percentage, 50.1%, of any MSP over their closest challenger.

Following the resignation of his friend and former ministerial colleague Nicol Stephen, Scott declared his candidacy for the leadership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats on 7 July 2008 at Lerwick harbour, surrounded by a group of men dressed as Vikings. On 26 August 2008, he was announced the winner of the leadership contest with 59% (1,450) of the votes.

Following what he described as a "disastrous" set of results for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the Scottish elections in May 2011, Scott offered his resignation as leader (remaining a Member of the Scottish Parliament). He claimed the poor showings were in part due to the coalition deal which saw the Liberal Democrats form a government with the Conservatives following the 2010 general election.

In the run-up to the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum, Scott was a keen advocate of a "No" vote and also called for recognition of "the Northern Isles' right to determine their own future." At the Liberal Democrat party conference in 2013, he put forward a motion with fellow MSP Liam McArthur to recognise the islands had a "separate right to self-determination". Scott said that his preferred outcome was for Shetland to become a crown dependency of the United Kingdom with its own parliament

Scott announced in June 2019 that he would be resigning from the Scottish Parliament to take a position with the Scottish Rugby Union.

In September 2020, it was announced that Scott had been appointed Chief Executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO), the trade body representing Scotland's farmed salmon sector. He formally assumed the role in November 2020.

In 2025, he was accused of breaking the rules around lobbying and is facing a formal investigation by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

Career timeline 1986–1989: Napier College 1989–1990: Parliamentary researcher to Jim Wallace MP for Orkney and Shetland, House of Commons 1990–1992: Press Officer, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Edinburgh 1992–1999: Farmer, Shetland family farm 1994–1999: Chairman and Trustee, Lerwick Harbour Trust 1994–1999: Councillor for Lerwick Harbour and Bressay ward on Shetland Islands Council Vice-chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee 1997–1999: Director, Shetland Islands Tourism 1999–2019: Member of the Scottish Parliament for Shetland 2000–2001: Deputy Minister for Scottish Parliament 2003–2005: Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Services and Parliamentary Business 2005–2007: Minister for Transport 2007–2008: Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth Convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee 2008–2011: Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats 2011–2019: Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesman for business and the economy 2020–2026: Chief Executive of Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, later renamed Salmon Scotland