Dear Mr Harper: Britain’s First Green Parliamentarian

Born in Caithness in 1940, Robin Harper was educated in London and Aberdeen. In 1999, he became the first member of the Green Party to be elected into parliament. He was the sole representative of the Green Party in the Scottish Parliament until 2003 when they won another six seats. As convenor of the Scottish Green Party, he has been instrumental in the rising profile of the Green political movement in the UK. His previous career as a teacher, taking in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Kenya, has given him deeply-held convictions in both educational and environmental issues, and his cheerful, positive demeanour ensures he is a lively and regular presence in the media. As a teacher, actor, parliamentarian, protestor, folkie, and-along with Tommy Sheridan and Denis Canavan-one of the Scottish parliament’s ‘Three Musketeers’, Robin Harper’s life story is quirky, funny and brave. Here, he reveals to us his family life, his childhood years in Sri Lanka and London, his chance encounter with Idi Amin, the events that led him to join the Green Party, and the inspiration behind his iconic rainbow scarf.This is an entertaining book in which Robin’s convictions, both Green and otherwise, come through almost subliminally: his message, because he certainly has one, is all the more powerful for that. He is a rare jewel in an ocean of murk.