Allan Stewart

Who is Allan Stewart?

Allan Stewart, is a former Scottish Conservative politician.

Stewart was educated at Bell Baxter High School, St. Andrews University and Harvard University, where he obtained a first class degree. He was a lecturer in Political Economy at St. Andrews before standing unsuccessfully for the Dundee East constituency in 1970. He was briefly a councillor in the London Borough of Bromley in the mid-1970s. He was elected MP for East Renfrewshire in 1979 and continued as MP in its successor Eastwood from 1983 until 1997. He served two spells as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland at the Scottish Office from 1981 to 1986, and from 1990 to 1995.

Stewart was forced to resign his ministerial post after an incident in February 1995 when he brandished a pickaxe at demonstrators who were protesting at the construction of the M77 motorway. Stewart was hospitalised after suffering a nervous breakdown in March 1997. He stood down, not seeking re-election to Parliament in the General Election held on 1 May that year, and subsequently retired altogether from politics.