Lloyd Quinan

Lloyd Quinan is a broadcaster and politician, serving as a member of the Scottish Parliament for the West of Scotland from 1999 to 2003 for the SNP.

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Quinan is a longtime campaigner for Scottish Independence, initially joining the Scottish National Party in 1974, later leaving in 2003. In 2015 the SNP selected him as a list candidate for the Lothian region.

Theatre and television career

A trained actor, he appeared in theatres throughout Scotland, including the Royal Lyceum, The Traverse, Perth Theatre, The Tron, Eden Court, The Pavilion, and was Assistant Director of The Scottish Theatre Company, Founder of the independent company, United Artists (Scotland).

He directed new plays by Peter Arnott and George Gunn as well as the first Scottish production of Howard Barkers, Pity In History. Working as a freelance director he worked with many companies and theatres including The Citizens Theatre Glasgow, Unit One, The Traverse, Mayfest, The Borders Festival, Craigmillar Festival Society and directed plays, pantomimes and community pageants. He was an elected member of the Scottish Committee of the Equity Union for 12 years. Like so many theatre workers he had a parallel career in Television appearing in a number of dramas for BBC Scotland, Granada, STV and ITV. While working for STV in 1983 he became a presenter in the Education Department making over 200 programmes on Scottish History and Society (1983–89).