John lives in Peebles, in the heart of the Tweed Valley, with his wife and two sons. He is the local party chair of the Scottish Liberal Democrats for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, and was the party’s prospective parliamentary candidate in the 2017 general election.

John was brought up in Airdrie and attended St Andrews University, where he gained a degree in economics. He then worked as an oil and gas analyst before training as a financial journalist. After a decade in journalism, he started his own media relations consultancy business, which he still runs today. He is 42 years old, and in his spare time likes to hit the trails on his mountain bike – he is a qualified mountain bike leader.