John Scott MSP is the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr. He won the first ever Scottish Parliament by-election in March 2000 and has held the seat since.

He is the Deputy Presiding Officer of The Scottish Parliament, was the Rural Affairs spokesman for The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party from 2007 – 2011, served on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body from 2003 to 2007 and has also served on the Petitions Committee. He was the Scottish Conservative spokesman on the Environment between 2001-03.

In addition, John Scott farms at Balkissock near Ballantrae. He established the Ayrshire Farmers Market in 1999, founded the Scottish Association of Farmers  in 2001 and chaired the Ayrshire and Arran Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) from 1993-99. He is also a past chairman of the National Farmer’s Union of Scotland Hill Farming Committee.

Ayrshire-born John was educated at Barrhill Primary, George Watson’s College and has a BSc in Civil Engineering from Edinburgh University.

His interests include curling, geology and rugby – John played for Wigtownshire RFC from 1969-73.

John was recently re-elected at the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary Elections with 16,183 votes. He has been appointed as the spokesperson for sustainable development in party leader Ruth Davidson's new Shadow Cabinet team.