The Madras College Archive

     


Former Pupil Biographies

Ted Brocklebank (1942 - current) Journalist, Broadcaster, MSP

 

Ted Brocklebank (born 24 September 1942) is a Scottish Conservative politician. He attended Madras in the early 50's and his memories of time in the Burgh school are recorded here.

He was previously a journalist and a television producer, having been Head of News and Current Affairs at Grampian Television in 1977. In 1980 he was responsible for the change of name of the weekday news programme at 6pm from 'Grampian Today' to 'North Tonight'.

He stood for the Fife North East constituency in the 1999 election for the Scottish Parliament, coming second to Liberal Democrat Iain Smith. This was repeated in the 2003 election, although the Conservatives' share of the vote increased. This time however, Brocklebank was elected through the regional list for Mid Scotland and Fife.

He served the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party:

  • 2003 - 2005 as Environment spokesperson;

  • 2005 as Fisheries spokesperson;

  • 2005 -2007 as Rural Affairs spokesman;

  • 2007 - 2011 as spokesperson on Europe, External Relations and Culture.

In February 2007 he resigned from the Shadow Cabinet after David Cameron changed the party's stance on fisheries, specifically the threat of withdrawal from the EU's Common Fisheries Policy. Mr Brocklebank did not seek re-election at the Scottish Parliament general election, 2011.