Minister for Transport
What was the position of Tavish Scott from Jun 2005 to May 2007?
Tavish Scott Tavish Hamilton Scott ( born 6 May 1966 ) is a former Scottish politician . He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament ( MSP ) for Shetland from 1999 to 2019 , and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011 . He stepped down as Leader after the 2011 Scottish Parliament election , in which the Liberal Democrats were reduced to five seats , down from 16 in the previous parliament . Background , education and early career . Scott was born on 6 May 1966 in Inverness , Scotland , he attended Anderson High School , Lerwick , Shetland and holds a BA ( Hons ) Business Studies from Napier College in Edinburgh . After graduating , he worked as a parliamentary assistant to Jim Wallace , then Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland , and later as a Press Officer for the Scottish Liberal Democrats . He then returned to Shetland and became a farmer and also a councillor on Shetland Islands Council and Chairman of the Lerwick Harbour Trust . Member of the Scottish Parliament . Scott was elected the first Member of the Scottish Parliament for Shetland in May 1999 . He was also the first parliamentarian for the Shetland Islands as a distinct entity ; up to that point there had only been a single UK parliamentary constituency for both Orkney and Shetland . He served as a Deputy Minister for Parliament in the Scottish Executive from 2000 to 2001 in succession to his colleague Iain Smith , but resigned after refusing to support the Executive in a vote in the Parliament on a tie-up scheme for fishing . In 2003 , he returned to the Scottish Executive as Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services . During his time there his department piloted the Local Governance ( Scotland ) Act , which changed the elections for local authorities in Scotland to a proportional representation system . Following Nicol Stephens election as party leader and succession as Deputy First Minister of Scotland in 2005 , Scott was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Transport . He was re-elected with an increased majority in May 2007 , and held the largest margin by percentage , 50.1% , of any MSP over their closest challenger . After the resignation of his friend and former ministerial colleague Nicol Stephen , Scott declared his candidacy for the leadership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats on 7 July 2008 at Lerwick harbour , surrounded by a group of men dressed as Vikings which is a tradition in Shetland called Up Helly Aa where Shetlanders celebrate their Viking heritage . On 26 August 2008 , he was announced the winner of the leadership contest with 59% ( 1,450 ) of the votes . Following what he described as a disastrous set of results for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the Scottish elections in May 2011 , Scott offered his resignation as leader ( remaining a Member of the Scottish Parliament ) . He claimed the poor showings were in part due to the coalition deal which saw the Liberal Democrats form a government with the Conservatives after the 2010 United Kingdom general election . In the run-up to the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum , Scott was a keen advocate of a No vote as well as recognition that whatever the outcome of the referendum there ought to be a recognition of Northern Isles’ right to determine their own future . At the Liberal Democrat party conference in 2013 put forward a motion with fellow MSP Liam McArthur to recognise the Islands had a separate right to self-determination Scott said that his preferred outcome was for Shetland to become a crown dependency of the UK with its own parliament , and was backed by the cross-party Wir Shetland movement that campaigns for crown dependency status . Scott announced in June 2019 that he would be resigning from the Scottish Parliament to take a position with the Scottish Rugby Union . Career timeline . - 1986–1989 : Napier College - 1989–1990 : Parliamentary researcher to Jim Wallace MP for Orkney and Shetland , House of Commons - 1990–1992 : Press Officer , Scottish Liberal Democrats , Edinburgh - 1992–1999 : Farmer , Shetland family farm - 1994–1999 : Chairman and Trustee , Lerwick Harbour Trust - 1994–1999 : Councillor for Lerwick Harbour and Bressay ward on Shetland Islands Council - Vice-chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee - 1997–1999 : Director , Shetland Islands Tourism - 1999–2019 : Member of the Scottish Parliament for Shetland - 2000–2001 : Deputy Minister for Scottish Parliament - 2003–2005 : Deputy Minister for Finance , Public Services and Parliamentary Business - 2005–2007 : Minister for Transport - 2007–2008 : Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth - Convenor of the Scottish Parliaments Economy , Energy and Tourism Committee - 2008–2011 : Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats - 2011–2019 : Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesman for business and the economy External links . - Tavish Scott MSP profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats