Back فيلي ريني Arabic فيلى رينى ARZ Willie Rennie German Willie Rennie French Willie Rennie Scots/Gaelic Willie Rennie SCO Willie Rennie SIMPLE
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William Cowan Rennie (born 27 September 1967) is a Scottish politician who served as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2011 to 2021. He has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Fife since 2016, and previously as a list MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife (from 2011 to 2016) and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife (from 2006 to 2010).
After college, Rennie was a Liberal Democrat election campaigner and official before working as a public relations consultant in the private sector. He became the MP for Dunfermline and West Fife following a by-election win in February 2006. He later lost this seat to the Labour Party at the 2010 general election. He briefly served as a Special Government Adviser for the Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretaries of State Danny Alexander and Michael Moore at the Scotland Office.[1]
He was then elected to the Scottish Parliament in the May 2011 election. He was elected as an additional member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region.[2] He was soon after elected unopposed as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, replacing Tavish Scott. At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Rennie was elected MSP for the constituency seat of North East Fife. Rennie was re-elected in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, but resigned as Lib Dem leader two months later and was replaced by Alex Cole-Hamilton.
- ^ "David Cameron's PR director Andy Coulson paid £140,000". BBC News. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ Victor Clements (25 September 2010). "Regional List results". Perth and Kinross Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.