David Martin | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2014 | |
| Co-convener of theCitizens' Assembly of Scotland | |
| Assumed office 6 August 2019 Serving with Kate Wimpress | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Member of the European Parliament forScotland Lothians (1984–1999) | |
| In office 14 June 1984 – 1 July 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Ian Dalziel |
| Succeeded by | Aileen McLeod |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1954-08-26)26 August 1954 (age 71) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Political party | Scottish Labour |
| Other political affiliations | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Martin (div) Lorraine Davidson |
| Alma mater | Heriot-Watt University University of Leicester |
| Profession | Economist |
David Martin (born 26 August 1954) is a Scottish politician who has served as co-convener of theCitizens' Assembly of Scotland since 2019. A member of theScottish Labour Party, he was aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) from1984 to2019, having first represented theLothians constituency until1999 and then for theScotland constituency. He was the United Kingdom's longest serving MEP and the second longest serving MEP in the whole European Parliament.[1]
David Martin was born and educated in Edinburgh, where he attendedLiberton High School thenHeriot-Watt University. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a stockbroker's assistant, and also as an animal rights campaigner.[2]
Martin was first elected as a councillor in 1982.
Martin won theLothians seat in the1984 European Parliament election. He retained his seat, and following a reform of the electoral system, was in1999 elected to represent the whole of Scotland along with other members.
He was elected in 1987 as the youngest ever leader of the British Labour delegation of MEPs. He was Vice-President of the European Parliament from 1989 to 2004, the longest period anyone has served in that position. In 2002 he was the defeated Socialist candidate for President of the Parliament.
He was the European Parliament'srapporteur on theMaastricht andAmsterdam Treaties.
Martin supportedOwen Smith in the2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[3]
Martin was first on the Scottish Labour party list for the2019 European Parliament election. The result for Scotland was declared on 17 May 2019. Scottish Labour lost both its seats, receiving 9.3% of the vote.[4] He did not attend the declaration, leavingEdinburgh City Chambers the night before.[5]
Martin was a co-ordinator and spokesperson for theSocialists and Democrats Group on theInternational Trade (INTA) committee. As well as this role, he was the rapporteur for the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and standing rapporteur for theASEAN-5 countries.
Martin stepped in as the rapporteur for theACTA treaty after the original rapporteur,Kader Arif, resigned in protest.[6] In April 2012, Martin recommended that the European Parliament reject ACTA, on the grounds that civil liberties were not adequately protected.[7][8] His recommendation was adopted by the Parliament in the biggest ever defeat of a legislative proposal from the European Commission – 478 MEPs voted against ACTA, 39 in favour, and 165 abstained.[9]
In 2013, Martin was voted MEP of the year in the international trade category byThe Parliament Magazine.[10]
Martin was the rapporteur for theUN Arms Trade Treaty, encouraging member states to ratify the treaty and pushing for the EU to lead strict global implementation of new rules for greater transparency and responsibility in the arms industry.[11]
Martin is Honorary Vice-President of the Animal Welfare Intergroup, a cross-party group of MEPs striving for animal rights.[12]
He was instrumental in the2009 Seal Regulation, which bans the sale of seal products in the European Union. It has been estimated by theHumane Society International that in Canada around 250,000 seals have been saved per year as a result of this ruling.[13] This was reinforced by a landmark WTO ruling following a challenge to the EU legislation by the Norwegian and Canadian governments.[14]
Following theBrexit vote of 23 June 2016, Martin was invited to join theFirst Minister'sStanding Council on Europe, a cross-party body which offers advice to the Scottish government on how best to protect Scotland's relationship with the European Union.[15] In contrast to England and Wales, Scotland voted firmly in favour of EU membership by 62% to 38%.[16]
In a video he explained, "she [First Minister Nicola Sturgeon] assured me this would be an all-party and no-party, a pro-independence and an anti-independence grouping, that there would be no bias one way or the other. Our job is simply to look at what would be best for Scotland in the new situation that we face".[17]
In January 2024, Martin became President of the European Movement in Scotland.[18]
Since losing his seat in 2019, Martin has been appointed as co-convener of theCitizens' Assembly of Scotland.[19] He took office on 6 August 2019 with co-convener Kate Wimpress.[20]
In July 2019,Joanna Cherry,Member of Parliament forEdinburgh South West, suggested the Assembly would be used to promoteScottish nationalism.[21] Martin, aunionist, refused to endorse a boycott of the Assembly encouraged byScotland in Union, theScottish Conservatives and theScottish Liberal Democrats. He insisted the running of the Assembly would be impartial and expressed his disappointment at the going ahead of the boycott.[22]
Martin is married toLorraine Davidson, with two children; he also has two children from a previous marriage to his first wife Margaret.[23]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Leader of theEuropean Parliamentary Labour Party 1987–1988 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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