Sir Nicholas Hardwick Fairbairn, QC (24 December 1933 – 19 February 1995) was a Scottish politician.
He was the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kinross and Western Perthshire from October 1974 to 1983, and then for Perth and Kinross until his death in 1995. He was Solicitor General for Scotland from 1979 to 1982.
He was noted for his outspoken views and his flamboyant dress sense.
Nicholas Fairbairn was the third child and second son of Ronald Fairbairn, the psychoanalyst, who, according to Fairbairn's autobiography A Life is Too Short (1987) adopted the maternal role after his mother rejected him at birth. Fairbairn describes their relationship from when he could converse with his father, for the next twenty years until old age affected his father, like that of twins with his father treating him as "his equal and confidant". Fairbairn credited this relationship as enabling him to "withstand the trauma and rejection I felt... enabled me to feel secure for the rest of my life against any rejection or misfortune... made me profoundly in awe of father figures and left me with a consistent feeling... that I am still a child." Fairbairn also said he was named after Saint Nicholas as he was born on Christmas Eve.
He was educated at Loretto School and the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with an MA and an LLB. At the age of 23, he was called to the Scots Bar.
In 1962 he married into the Scottish aristocracy—his wife, Hon. Elizabeth Mackay, was the daughter of the 13th Lord Reay. They divorced in 1979. He started in Conservative politics by fighting the Edinburgh Central seat (which had been a Labour-held marginal seat during the 1950s) in 1964 and 1966.