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George Lyon MEP
George Lyon was brought up in a 7th generation tenant farming family on the Isle of Bute. He attended Rothesay Academy before coming home to the family business at the age of 16 in 1972. In 1986 George Lyon became a Nuffield Scholar and travelled to New Zealand and Australia to study Farming without Subsidies. It is widely acknowledged he left a farmer and returned a politician.
In 1989 he was elected Chair of Bute area of NFU Scotland and nominated to National Council. In 1994 he was elected Chair of the NFU's Animal Welfare Committee and then Vice President of the Union in 1996. He played a significant role in leading the industry through the BSE crisis. He was elected President of NFU Scotland in 1998 following the resignation of both the sitting President and the Chief Executive and successfully led the organisation through a very difficult restructuring and rebuilding. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society in 2001.
In March 1999 he stood down as NFU President and was successfully elected as MSP for Argyll & Bute at the first Scottish Parliament elections in May 1999 with a majority of 2075. He was elected Convenor of the first Scottish Liberal Democrat Parliamentary group and was Party spokesperson for Enterprise, Justice and Land Reform in the first Parliament.
In 2003 he was re-elected with an increased majority of 4196 and served as Chief Whip and then Deputy Finance Minister during that term.
He has a strong track record of campaigning on rural issues and land reform. As the local MSP he was instrumental in the Isle of Gigha community buyout. After narrowly losing his seat to the SNP in 2007 he returned to the family farming business.
In late 2007 the Liberal Democrats elected him number 1 on their European list to replace the sitting MEP Elspeth Attwooll. In June 2009 George was elected as Scotland's Liberal democrat MEP, the only new face in a team of six standing up for Scotland's interests.
He was appointed to the Parliament's Agriculture Committee as lead spokesperson for the third biggest political group Alliance of Liberal Democrats in Europe (ALDE).
Since his election he has played a prominent role in the reform of the CAP, he was nominated to write the first report setting out the Parliament's priorities and he led for the ALDE group in negotiating agreement on the follow up report by Albert Dess MEP. He is now leading for ALDE on the legislation for direct payments and the package on cross-compliance, monitoring and financial rules.
George has also been heavily involved in the EU budget debate, trade issues, food labelling, consumer issues and the safety of offshore drilling.
He was appointed by the Agriculture Committee to lead the negotiations on the legislation to give Member States the power to ban GMOs cultivation on their territories.
He was re-elected ALDE Lead Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development for the second half of the Parliament and also elected Vice President of the powerful Budget Committee of the Parliament.
Education: Rothesay Academy
Work Experience: Previous owner of an extensive 1350 acre Farming business, Past President and Vice President NFU Scotland, Director SQBLA, Held a number of committee chairmanships at NFU Scotland.
Parliamentary Experience: MSP Argyll and Bute 1999-2007, Deputy Finance Minister Scottish Executive 2005-2007,
Member of the European Parliament 2009-
Committee Membership: Agriculture and Rural Development; Vice President, Budget Committee.
Staff Details
I employ my close friend Flora Boyd as full time Office Manager (Salary band €30,000 - €40,000 per annum).
Other members of staff are as follows:
Research and Casework Assistant - Lisa Strachan
European Liaison and Information Office - Greg Foster
Press Officer - Graeme Littlejohn ( part-time)
Liaison Officer - Adam Stachura (part-time)
Claire Brennetot - Parliamentary Assistant (Brussels)
John Frame - Parliamentary Intern (Brussels)
I employ an accountant, who acts as my paying agent for PAYE, NIC, pension contributions and other deductions for my office staff.
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