Colin Clark (politician)

Colin James Clark (born 20 May 1969) is a Scottish politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gordon from 2017 to 2019. He is a member of the Scottish Conservatives.

Colin Clark
Official portrait, 2017
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 27 July 2019 – 16 December 2019
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Ian Duncan
Succeeded by	Douglas Ross
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office 27 July 2019 – 16 December 2019
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	George Hollingbery
Succeeded by	Douglas Ross
Member of Parliament for Gordon
In office 8 June 2017 – 6 November 2019
Preceded by	Alex Salmond
Succeeded by	Richard Thomson
Personal details
Born	Colin James Clark[1] (1969-05-20) 20 May 1969 (age 55)[2] Aberdeen, Scotland
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Philippa Jones (m. 2005)
Children	2
Alma mater	Heriot-Watt University

Early life

Clark was educated at Turriff Academy, a comprehensive school and Heriot-Watt University.^[3] He worked in business and agriculture until his election to the House of Commons.^[4]

Political career

During the 2015 UK general election campaign, Clark's Scottish National Party opponent in Gordon, Alex Salmond, recorded in his diary: "The Tory candidate, Colin Clark, cuts an impressive figure but his politics are far too dry for this area. If the constituency were composed entirely of michty fairmers then he might be the ideal candidate. But it isn't and he is not."^[5]

Clark then contested the East Aberdeenshire constituency at the 2016 Holyrood elections, and finished second to Gillian Martin of the SNP with a 29% share of the vote. Clark was elected to Aberdeenshire Council at a 2016 by-election and re-elected in May 2017, shortly before the 2017 snap general election, at which he was elected as the MP for Gordon with a majority of 2,607 votes over former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond.^[3][6]

In January 2019, Clark was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Work and Pensions. He also sat on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Backbench Committee. On 27 July 2019, Clark was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in the first Johnson ministry.^[7][8]

Clark was unseated at the 2019 United Kingdom general election by the SNP candidate Richard Thomson, who won with a narrow majority of 819 votes.^[9]

Later career

Clark was blocked by Ruth Davidson from standing at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.^[10]