Michael Forsyth
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Michael Bruce Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean, PC, is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1995 to 1997, during which he led a high profile but ultimately unsuccessful campaign against the opposition parties' plans to establish a devolved Scottish Parliament. He particularly homed in on the proposals for the parliament to have the power to vary the basic rate of income tax by up to three pence in the pound, which he repeatedly dubbed the "Tartan Tax". Forsyth's persistence was widely credited with prompting the Labour Party's unexpected decision - bitterly criticised by the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party - to separate out the tax-varying issue in a two-question referendum on devolution. However the "Tartan Tax" label was not enough to prevent the Scottish electorate ultimately voting in favour of the proposal by an almost two-to-one margin.
Forsyth first entered parliament for Stirling in the 1983 election, and lost his seat to Anne McGuire from Labour in the 1997 election. He is now a member of the House of Lords, and works in the City of London for investment bank JPMorgan.
| Preceded by: Ian Lang | Secretary of State for Scotland 1995–1997 | Followed by: Donald Dewar |