page_title: Gil Paterson
hierarchical_section_title: Gil Paterson
caption_attribution_description: English: MSP Gil Paterson discusses the 2017 West Dunbartonshire Council local election result with Clydebank Post reporter Maxine McArthur.
context_page_description: Gilbert Martin Paterson, born in Glasgow, 1942 is the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency, which he gained from Labour on 5 May 2011.
  Previously he had been an MSP for the West of Scotland region, having been elected on 3 May 2007. From 1999 to 2003 he was an MSP for Central Scotland.
  Brought up in the North of Glasgow, Paterson attended Possilpark Secondary School, before building up his own business Gil's Motor Factors. He served as a Scottish National Party councillor in Strathclyde Regional Council and sat on the SNP's National Executive Committee, before being elected as one of five SNP MSPs for Central Scotland in the first election to the Scottish Parliament. During the first parliamentary term he sat on both the Local Government and Procedures committees in the Parliament.
  Paterson lost his seat in Parliament when at the 2003 election only three SNP MSPs were returned for Central Scotland. He returned to running his business but stayed active in the SNP, becoming the party's vice-convenor in charge of fundraising, a position he had held previously.
context_section_description: Gilbert Martin Paterson, born in Glasgow, 1942 is the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency, which he gained from Labour on 5 May 2011.
  Previously he had been an MSP for the West of Scotland region, having been elected on 3 May 2007. From 1999 to 2003 he was an MSP for Central Scotland.
  Brought up in the North of Glasgow, Paterson attended Possilpark Secondary School, before building up his own business Gil's Motor Factors. He served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) councillor in Strathclyde Regional Council and sat on the SNP's National Executive Committee, before being elected as one of five SNP MSPs for Central Scotland in the first election to the Scottish Parliament. During the first parliamentary term he sat on both the Local Government and Procedures committees in the Parliament.
  Paterson lost his seat in Parliament when at the 2003 election only three SNP MSPs were returned for Central Scotland. He returned to running his business but stayed active in the SNP, becoming the party's vice-convenor in charge of fundraising, a position he had held previously.
  Paterson was one of the heaviest critics of the leadership style of John Swinney, and in the aftermath of the 2004 European election he openly called for Swinney's resignation, which happened shortly afterwards.
  In 2006, Gil Paterson was selected to stand as candidate for the Clydebank and Milngavie Scottish Parliamentary constituency.
  In the current session of the Scottish Parliament, Gil was elected as the SNP Group convener. He is also a member of two committees, 'European and External Relations' and 'Subordinate Legislation', the latter of which he is deputy-convener.
caption: At the 2017 General Election in the West Dunbartonshire constituency, MSP Gil Paterson gave interviews to reporters about the result, including Maxine McArthur (pictured).
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