Richard Baker (Scottish politician)

Richard Baker MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament for Glenrothes and Mid Fife
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 July 2024
Preceded by	Peter Grant
Majority	2,954 (8.17%)
Member of Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland
In office 1 May 2003 – 11 January 2016
Succeeded by	Lesley Brennan
Personal details
Born	(1974-05-29) 29 May 1974 (age 50) Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party	Scottish Labour
Spouse	Claire Baker
Alma mater	University of Aberdeen

Richard James Baker (born 29 May 1974) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Glenrothes and Mid Fife since 2024.^[1] Baker was previously a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region.

Early life

Baker was born in Edinburgh to an Episcopalian priest father and English teacher mother, and is godson to the then Episcopalian Bishop of Aberdeen, Bruce Cameron. He was educated at the independent St. Bees School in Cumbria and at Aberdeen University.^[2] He was the elected president of the National Union of Students Scotland from 1998 till 2000 and before that the senior vice-president (an elected, full-time sabbatical officer post) at the University of Aberdeen students' representative council (now Aberdeen University Students' Association) in the academic year 1995/96. He is a former Scottish press officer of Help the Aged. Baker is a member of Unite the Union and the Co-operative Party.^{[citation needed]}

Political career

He was first elected in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, when he was the youngest sitting MSP. He is a former member of Labour's Shadow Cabinet in the Scottish Parliament having served as the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance.

In the early part of 2014, he was selected as the Labour candidate for Aberdeen North in the 2015 UK general election, after current MP Frank Doran announced his retirement. However, he lost in the election to Scottish National Party candidate Kirsty Blackman.^[3]

In June 2015, Baker announced he would stand in the 2015 Scottish Labour Party deputy leadership election.^[4] When the result was announced, he had come third of the three candidates in a close contest with 30% of the vote.^[5]

In September 2015, Baker announced he would be stepping down from the parliament at the 2016 election.^[6] He instead stood down early in January 2016 to take up a job with Age Scotland. As a list MSP, his seat was taken up by the next person on the Labour list for the North East Scotland region, Lesley Brennan.^[7]

In July 2024, he was elected Member of Parliament for the new constituency of Glenrothes and Mid Fife in the United Kingdom general election.^[8]

It was revealed that Baker is also a landlord and rents out four apartments. ^[9]

General Election 2024 - Glenrothes and Mid Fife result

Party	Vote share	Change since 2019
Labour	44.3%	+16.9%
Scottish National Party	36.1%	-13.4%
Reform UK	9.8%	+6.8%
Conservative	5.5%	-9.8%
Liberal Democrat	4.4%	-
Others	-	-

Family

Baker is married to Claire Brennan-Baker MSP and they have one daughter.

Claire became an MSP after the 2007 election, representing the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

References

1. "Glenrothes and Mid Fife - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
2. Profile, timeshighereducation.co, 24 December 1999.
3. Clark, Andrew (8 May 2015). "SNP candidate Kirsty Blackman wins Aberdeen North seat". UK: The Press and Journal.
4. "Five candidates put forward names for Scottish Labour leader posts". UK: BBC News. 15 June 2015.
5. "Labour MSP Alex Rowley elected as the party's new deputy leader". Scotland: BBC Scotland. 15 August 2015.
6. "Richard Baker to stand down as MSP". BBC News. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
7. "Labour MSP Richard Baker quits Holyrood for charity role". BBC News. 11 January 2016.
8. Clark, Alasdair (12 April 2024). "Glenrothes Labour hopeful Richard Baker sets sights on SNP upset as he returns to politics". The Courier. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
9. "I delved into who's funding the new Scottish Labour MPS – here's what I found". 23 August 2024.

External links

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Richard Baker
• Richard Baker MSP – Personal website
• Scottish Labour Party – Crime & Justice