John Nicolson was elected as the Scottish National Party MP for East Dunbartonshire between 2015 and 2017, having gained and then lost his seat to Jo Swinson. He returned to Westminster when he was elected for Ochil and South Perthshire in 2019 with a majority of 4,498.
The constituency of Ochil and South Perthshire is a large seat that includes Clackmanashire and the southern portion of Perth and Kinross. It includes the towns of Alloa, Auchterarder, Tullibody and Blackford. This is a diverse constituency that contains an industrial area in the south in Clackmannanshire, alongside a more rural and agricultural belt in the Ochill Hills to the north. Formerly represented by Labour in Parliament between 2005 and 2015, this has now become a SNP and Conservative marginal. Having gained the seat in 2015, the SNP lost it to the Conservatives in 2017, only to gain it back again in 2019.
Nicolson is the SNP spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport at Westminster.
John Nicolson joined the SNP when he was 16.
Born in 1961, John Nicolson studied at the University of Glasgow and graduated in English Literature and Politics. He then studied at Harvard. He later worked as a speech writer for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Democrat, New York) on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Prior to being elected to Parliament, Nicholson worked in broadcasting. He worked on Newsnight and was a presenter of BBC Breakfast. He was the studio presenter for the BBC on 11 September 2001 as the Twin Towers collapsed, anchoring live on BBC News 24 and BBC One.
He later worked for ITV, where he presented Live with John Nicolson. He has also been a radio anchor at LBC, Radio Scotland and Talk Radio.
Nicolson is gay. In 2021 he spoke in the Commons about the “poisonous storm” of online anonymity that allows trolls to routinely target politicians with misogyny, homophobia and racism. Nicolson is a fierce supporter of trans rights and has supported the party leader, Nicola Sturgeon as she has looked to deal with concerns that the SNP had become anti-trans.
John Nicolson is Deputy Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Democracy and the Constitution; and Media Literacy.
Email – john.nicolson.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.snp.org/people/john-nicolson
Twitter: @MrJohnNicolson
