Jim Fairlie is a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and financial analyst

Financial analyst

A financial analyst, securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, or investment analyst is a person who performs financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core part of the job.-Job:...

.

Fairlie joined the Scottish National Party

Scottish National Party

The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

 (SNP) in 1955, and was elected to its National Executive in the early 1970s. At the February

United Kingdom general election, February 1974

The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...

 and October 1974

United Kingdom general election, October 1974

The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...

, and 1979 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1979

The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...

s, he stood unsuccessfully for the party in Dundee West

Dundee West (UK Parliament constituency)

Dundee West is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....

. In 1979, he became Vice Chairman for Policy, and from 1981 to 1984, he was Deputy Leader and Senior Vice Chairman of the party. He stood unsuccessfully in Dunfermline West

Dunfermline West (UK Parliament constituency)

Dunfermline West was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament using the first-past-the-post voting system....

 at the 1983 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1983

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

 and Perth and Kinross

Perth and Kinross (UK Parliament constituency)

Perth and Kinross was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

 in 1987

United Kingdom general election, 1987

The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...

, and also wrote a column in the Scots Independent newspaper.

Fairlie resigned from the SNP in 1990, objecting to its "Independence in Europe" slogan and support for the European Community. In the 2000s, he joined the Free Scotland Party

Free Scotland Party

The Free Scotland Party is a minor political party in Scotland that stands for an independent Scotland, independent of both the United Kingdom and the European Union....

, acting as its Media Liaison Officer. He stood unsuccessfully for the party in Perth

Perth (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Perth is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...

 at the Scottish Parliament election, 2007

Scottish Parliament election, 2007

The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...

.