Torcuil Crichton
Torcuil Crichton | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for Na h-Eileanan an Iar | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Angus MacNeil |
| Majority | 3,836 (28.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 1964 (age 59) Isle of Lewis, Scotland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Website | www |
Torcuil Crichton (born December 1964) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Na h-Eileanan an Iar since 2024.[1] He previously worked as a journalist and Gaelic broadcaster.[2]
Journalism career
[edit]Crichton was born in December 1964.[3] He is from Swordale in Point, Isle of Lewis, where he grew up.[2][4] He attended Knock primary school.[5]
He worked as a journalist with the West Highland Free Press, and subsequently for the Daily Record for 12 years, leaving his role as Westminster editor in 2022.[6] He has also worked for the Herald and Sunday Herald, as well as the BBC,[7] for whom he made a Gaelic TV documentary, broadcast on BBC Alba, on Donald Trump's mother Mary Anne MacLeod's journey from the Isle of Lewis to America, Mathair a' Chinn-Suidhe – Trump's Mother.[8][9]
He co-wrote the Gaelic TV drama Eilbheas which first aired on BBC Alba in 2008 and received a Bafta Scotland nomination.[10][11] He has also written a teenage novel,[12] Fo Bhruid, a modern Gaelic retelling of Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.[13]
Along with Malcolm Maclean he devised a temporary art installation, Sheòl nan Iolaire, as a memorial marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of HMY Iolaire, with the loss of 201 men, on 1 January 1919.[14][15] As of 2024[update] the memorial remains in place in Stornoway harbour.[16]
Political career
[edit]He was selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate in January 2023,[6] and elected in the 2024 general election.
On entering parliament, he took the Oath of Allegiance in Gaelic using a Gaelic Bible.[17][18]
Family
[edit]He has a brother, Donald, who stood as the Labour candidate for Na h-Eileanan an Iar in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, coming second to Alasdair Allan.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ "Election 2024 > Na h-Eileanan an Iar results". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ a b "ISLES CANDIDATE: Journalist Torcuil Crichton set to stand at next general election". West Highland Free Press. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Torcuil CRICHTON". Companies House. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Labour Na h-Eileanan an Iar".
- ^ "Whitehall 1212: Landscape and memory - for Donald Murdo MacDonald". 24 January 2013.
- ^ a b Hutcheon, Paul (30 January 2023). "Former Record reporter Torcuil Crichton set to become Labour candidate in Na h-Eileanan an Iar". Daily Record. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Sharman, David (1 February 2023). "Former regional journalist bids to become MP for UK's smallest constituency". Hold the front page. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Scotland and the first-generation Scottish-American president have always been an uncomfortable fit". 13 November 2020.
- ^ "Mathair a' Chinn Suidhe – Trump's Mother". BBC Alba.
- ^ "BBC ALBA Gets BAFTA Scotland Nods". 26 October 2009.
- ^ "Eilbheas". BBC Alba. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/119167/pdf/
- ^ "Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig - Barrington Stoke".
- ^ "Lights on for the Iolaire art installation in Stornoway Harbour". Stornoway Gazette. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ "War memorials register > HMY Iolaire-Centenary Art Installation (Sheòl nan Iolaire)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Sheòl an Iolaire - Isle of Lewis". www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ "x.com".
- ^ Kirkup, James (12 July 2024). "Is this Westminster's coolest MP?". The Spectator.
- ^ Thomas, Ellen (4 February 2023). "Unspun: the Herald political diary". The Herald. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
External links
[edit]
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
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