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Tommy Sheppard (politician)

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Tommy Sheppard
Official portrait, 2020
SNP Scotland Spokesperson in the House of Commons
In office
4 September 2023 – 5 July 2024
LeaderStephen Flynn
Preceded byPhilippa Whitford
In office
20 June 2017 – 7 January 2020
LeaderIan Blackford
Preceded byMargaret Ferrier
Succeeded byMhairi Black
Member of Parliament
for Edinburgh East
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded bySheila Gilmore
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1959-03-06) 6 March 1959 (age 65)
Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Political partyScottish National Party (2014–present)
Other political
affiliations		Labour (1979–2003)
Alma materUniversity of Aberdeen
WebsiteOfficial website

Tommy Sheppard (born 6 March 1959) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh East from 2015 until the seat's abolition in 2024.[1] He has been SNP Spokesperson for Scotland since 2023.[2] He is a former SNP spokesperson for the Cabinet Office and a former SNP Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He is also known for founding The Stand Comedy Clubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow.[3]

Early life and education

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Tommy Sheppard was born on 6 March 1959 in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, and moved to nearby Portstewart at the age of seven. He was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution before attending the University of Aberdeen to study medicine.[4] He graduated with a degree in politics and sociology in 1982; in the same year he was elected vice-president of the National Union of Students (NUS) and moved to London.[5]

Political career

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Sheppard left the NUS in 1984 to work in the East End of London and in 1986 was elected as a Labour member on Hackney London Borough Council. In 1990 he became Deputy Leader of the council.[5]

In 1994 he was appointed Assistant General Secretary of Scottish Labour under John Smith. In 1997 he was made redundant from this role due to internal policy disagreements.[5]

He ceased to renew his Labour Party membership in 2003, stating: "I joined the Labour Party in 1979, just before my 21st birthday. Now 25 years later I've finally got around to cancelling the direct debit. I can no longer bring myself to vote Labour. My outlook has barely changed, but clearly the Labour Party has. I can no longer believe the Labour Party is likely to change the world very much, or at least not in a direction I would like".[6]

In 2012 he became the Edinburgh South organiser of the Yes Scotland campaign, but joined the SNP only in 2014 after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Parliamentary career

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Sheppard stood as the Labour candidate in Bury St Edmunds at the 1992 general election, coming second with 23.6% of the vote behind the Conservative candidate Richard Spring.[7]

In January 2015, Sheppard was selected as the SNP candidate for Edinburgh East.[8] At the 2015 general election, Sheppard was elected to Parliament as MP for Edinburgh East with 49.2% of the vote and a majority of 9,106.[9][10]

Sheppard is a staunch republican, and during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, he remarked "off with their heads", prompting some criticism.[11] Writing ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in 2018, Sheppard said, "There are many things to be proud of in Britain, but the class system and the inequality it spawns is not one of them. The monarchy sits at the apex of that system of patronage and privilege".[12]

At the snap 2017 general election, Sheppard was re-elected as MP for Edinburgh East with a decreased vote share of 42.5% and a decreased majority of 3,425.[13][14] During the election, he urged the Scottish Greens to step down from contesting marginal seats where the pro-independence vote might be split.[15]

Sheppard is an atheist and a humanist, and was elected vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group in September 2017.[16]

In August 2017, Sheppard encouraged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to abandon plans for a second Scottish independence referendum before Brexit. He suggested the cause of Scottish independence would be served best if Sturgeon offered Scotland a vote on a future relationship with the European Union after Brexit and only once Scotland had become independent.[17] In November 2017 he claimed that Scotland still had a mandate for a second independence referendum and that the Conservatives were wrong to think that the loss in SNP seats in the snap general election had caused a delay in the timetable for a second vote.[18]

In August 2017, Sheppard expressed admiration for the 18th century Scottish reformer and radical Thomas Muir, linking Muir's politics and life to the modern Scottish independence movement.[19]

In March 2018, he was widely considered one of the possible contenders for the 2018 Scottish National Party depute leadership election after having stood in the previous 2016 depute leadership election, but ruled himself out.[20]

In July 2018, reflecting on the decision of SNP MPs to vote no confidence in the Labour Government in 1979, Sheppard told the House of Commons, "In retrospect, I would have done exactly the same thing".[21]

At the 2019 general election, Sheppard was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 48.4% and an increased majority of 10,417.[22][23]

Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Sheppard's constituency of Edinburgh East was abolished, and replaced with Edinburgh East and Musselburgh. In June 2024, Sheppard was selected as the SNP candidate for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh at the 2024 general election.[24] He was subsequently defeated by Labour.[25]

Personal life

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In 2016, he told John Pienaar on BBC Radio 5 Live that he had taken amphetamines and cannabis when he was younger.[26]

Sheppard is a humanist, and in 2022 was elected chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, whose secretariat is provided by Humanists UK.[27] He is also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.[28]

Sheppard is a co-founder and former manager and promoter of The Stand Comedy Clubs in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Tufft, Ben (8 May 2015). "Scottish MPs in Westminster: The full list of the SNP parliamentarians". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  2. ^ "SNP announces frontbench reshuffle at Westminster". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Applause for The Stand as it celebrates twentieth birthday". The National. Glasgow. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  4. ^ Leask, David (1 June 2015). "Analysis: SNP bucks trend for privately educated MPs". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Tommy Sheppard SNP Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Edinburgh East". tommysheppard.com.
  6. ^ "Crisis inside Labour Party". Socialist Worker. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  7. ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  8. ^ Swanson, Ian (27 January 2015). "Tommy Sheppard named SNP Edinburgh East candidate". Evening News. Edinburgh. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^ Council, The City of Edinburgh. "UK Parliamentary election results 2015 | The City of Edinburgh Council". www.edinburgh.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  11. ^ Barrett, David; Whitehead, Tom (8 May 2015). "The maverick SNP MPs heading to Westminster". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  12. ^ "Tommy Sheppard: Insults won't change my mind about the monarchy".
  13. ^ "Edinburgh East parliamentary constituency – Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  15. ^ Nutt, Kathleeen (26 April 2017). "SNP MP Tommy Sheppard calls on Greens to avoid splitting pro-independence vote in marginal seats". The National. Glasgow. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Crispin Blunt and Joan Bakewell elected as Chair and Co-Chair of humanists in Parliament". Humanists UK. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  17. ^ Sanderson, Daniel (25 August 2017). "Ditch threat of referendum before Brexit, Tommy Sheppard tells Nicola Sturgeon". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  18. ^ Learmonth, Andrew (14 November 2017). "Tommy Sheppard: We've got a mandate for indyref 2 and if you ignore our wishes we'll use it". The National. Glasgow. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Tommy Sheppard: How we win the next referendum". The National. Glasgow. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  20. ^ MacNab, Scott (4 March 2018). "Senior MPs ruled out of running for SNP deputy position". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  21. ^ "SNP MP criticised for defending party's role in bringing Thatcher to power". 25 July 2018.
  22. ^ "Edinburgh East parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  24. ^ "UK Parliament Election 2024". 7 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Edinburgh East and Musselburgh – General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  26. ^ "SNP MP has admitted taking amphetamines". video courtesy BBC Radio 5Live/In Short 1:27PM GMT. Press Association. 8 November 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  27. ^ "New officers elected by All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group". Humanists UK. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  28. ^ "National Secular Society Honorary Associates". National Secular Society. Retrieved 27 July 2019
  29. ^ Johnston, Alex (8 May 2015). "Tommy Sheppard, local councillor turned comedy impresario, is elected MP". The List. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
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