Struan Stevenson
| Struan Stevenson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Member of the European Parliament for Scotland |
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In office 10 June 1999 – 2 July 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ian Duncan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
4 April 1948 Ballantrae, Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Scottish Conservative |
| Website | http://www.struanstevenson.com/ |
Struan John Stirton Stevenson (born 4 April 1948) is a Scottish politician. He was the Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Scotland from 1999-2014 and Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee on Fisheries, in addition to which, he is member of the Executive of the Scottish Conservative party. Also, a President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq and President of the Friends of Free Iran Intergroup. He is President of the European Iraqi Freedom Association. He was educated at the independent Strathallan School.
Stevenson served his early political career as a local councillor for 22 years, sitting on South Ayrshire Council and its predecessor body the Kyle and Carrick District Council. He stood for election to Parliament at the 1987 election, the 1992 election and 1997 election. He was then elected to the European Parliament in 1999, and retained his seat in 2004 and 2009. He retired from the European Parliament at the elections in 2014.
As an MEP, he led an international campaign to raise awareness and secure aid for the victims of radiation in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan, where the Soviet Union government tested 607 nuclear devices from 1949 to 1990, leaving an appalling legacy of pollution, deprivation, illness and death. He was awarded with an honorary doctorate in Science from the Semey State Medical Academy, State Medical Academy in Semipalatinsk in recognition of his efforts and on his third visit to Kazakhstan in 2003, he was made an honorary citizen of Semipalatinsk. In September 2004 he won a $50,000 prize in an international essay competition sponsored by the US-based John Templeton Foundation for an essay entitled "Crying Forever" describing the suffering of the people of Semipalatinsk. Struan donated the entire $50,000 to Mercy Corps Scotland to assist with their work in Semipalatinsk. He toured an exhibition of photographs taken in Semipalatinsk by his friend the actress and photographer Kimberley Joseph from the Scottish Parliament, to the European Parliament, the UK Department for International Development, the United Nations headquarters in New York and finally, to Almaty, Astana and Semipalatinsk itself in Kazakhstan. In 2006 he published a book also entitled Crying Forever, detailing his experiences in Kazakhstan. The book was launched at the UN Headquarters in New York and all proceeds from its sale were presented by Struan to the Children's Hospital in Semipalatinsk, totalling over $20,000. In January 2007 Struan was decorated by the President of Kazakhstan with the "Shapagat" ("Mercy") award for his humanitarian work in Semipalatinsk.
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