Board Biography – David Whitton MSP
David was educated at Morgan Academy in Dundee and began his journalistic career with DC Thomson.
After spells with weekly and local papers in Fife and Aberdeen he joined The Scotsman before moving to the Daily Record where he later became Industrial Editor covering many of the big stories of the early 80's.
In 1986 David joined Scottish Television as an on screen reporter and over the next ten years he also presented the weekly political programme, was the lobby correspondent at Westminster , a producer of news and current affairs programmes and finally Head of Public Affairs.
David then entered the world of public relations before being asked to become a Special Adviser to the late Donald Dewar, then Secretary of State for Scotland . David also served as a Special Adviser and media spokesman for Mr Dewar when he became the first First Minister of the Scottish parliament.
In 2000 following the death of Mr Dewar David set up his own public relations company working with a number of FTSE listed companies.
In May 2007 David was elected to the Scottish Parliament as the Labour member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden. He was Parliamentary aide to former Labour leader Wendy Alexander and a member of the Economy, Energy and Tourism committee.
In September 2008 David was appointed as Deputy Shadow spokesman for Finance. He is also a member of the Finance committee.