John Swinburne

Who is John Swinburne?

John Swinburne is the founder of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party and was that party's sole representative in the Scottish Parliament from 2003 until 2007. He is also a director of Motherwell Football Club.

Swinburne has called for reintroduction of the 'Belt' or 'Tawse' into Scottish schools, expressing the opinion that corporal punishment would solve what he believes are endemic discipline problems. This statement was condemned by other MSPs and by the teaching union, the EIS.

He lost his seat in the 2007 election.

In May, 2009, at age 78, Swinburne announced he was planning to stand in the Glasgow North East by-election, 2009. He later withdrew from this election, due to "unforeseen circumstances".