 jim mather (born 6 march 1947, lochwinnoch) is a scottish politician, former minister for enterprise, energy and tourism and until the 2011 election, the scottish national party member of the scottish parliament for argyll and bute. mather was educated at paisley grammar school and greenock high school before attending the university of glasgow. before his election to holyrood he worked as a chartered accountant and ran his own business. he joined the snp in 1996 and acted as the snpâs national treasurer from 2000. he is credited with making the economic case for scottish independence, having taken the argument to the media, boardrooms and committee rooms across scotland between 2001 and 2007. he was the snp candidate in the 2000 ayr by-election and was their candidate for argyll and bute at the 2003 where he came third. he was elected to the scottish parliament as a regional list member for the highlands and islands. in opposition he was the snp's shadow enterprise and economy minister. mather contested argyll and bute again at the 2007 scottish parliament election and was successful, winning the seat from george lyon of the scottish liberal democrats. after the snp's victory at the 2007 scottish parliament election, mather was appointed minister for enterprise, energy and tourism and held that post for 4 years until the end of the 2011 parliament. jim mather r
1947_births Alumni_of_the_University_of_Glasgow Living_people Members_of_the_Scottish_Parliament_2003a07 Members_of_the_Scottish_Parliament_2007a11 People_educated_at_Paisley_Grammar_School People_from_Renfrewshire Scottish_National_Party_MSPs Scottish_accountants