Lloyd Quinan
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Lloyd Quinan is a former member of the Scottish Parliament. Born and brought up in Edinburgh he joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1974. A trained actor, he was a member of the Equity Union, before pursuing a media career as a weatherman and freelance broadcaster. He was involved in the National Union of Journalists during this period.
In 1999 he was elected to represent the West of Scotland as a SNP candidate at the first Scottish Parliament election. During his time as a MSP he became known as a critic of the SNP leadership, first under Alex Salmond and then John Swinney.
A naturally inclined left-winger, he supported Alex Neil's bid for leadership in 2000, acting as a campaign manager for Neil. At the 2003 Parliament election he decided to stand down from being a candidate in the West of Scotland, and sought nomination in his home city of Edinburgh. Failure to do so meant that he eventually contested the election as SNP candidate for Motherwell and Wishaw against the Labour candidate, First Minister Jack McConnell. McConnell comprehensively defeated him.
In the aftermath of the SNP's election defeat in 2003 the SNP became embroiled in an internal struggle, culminating in the challenge to Swinney's leadership by grassroots SNP activist Dr. Bill Wilson. The media connected Quinan to Wilson's campaign, but this was something he denied.
Shortly after this challenge Quinan announced his decision to resign from the SNP and join the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) instead. He attempted to be placed on the SSP list of nominated candidates for the 2004 European Parliament election but he did not manage this.