Brian Howieson

Candidate for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth

I am not a career politician. I am a servant of the public good—and that distinction matters.

Over nearly 40 years, I have built a professional career across the private, public and third sectors, working at the highest levels in each. Commissioned into the Royal Air Force at 22 following my undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh, I served as a Navigator/Weapons Systems Officer for 19 years, seeing active service in the Gulf War, the Kosovo War and UN Air Operations in Iraq. I later completed two master's degrees and a PhD in Leadership—again at Edinburgh—before entering academia. I am currently Professor of Leadership and Strategy at the University of Limassol, Cyprus—a position I have resigned to focus entirely on Holyrood 2026.

I know Central Scotland intimately. I grew up in Cumbernauld, was educated entirely in the state system there and have lived in the Larbert/Falkirk area for 22 years. In the early 1980s, before my RAF career, I worked as a road sweeper and refuse collector for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District Council. My life has spanned every rung of Scottish society—and that breadth of experience is exactly what this region deserves in its representation.

I have worked and presented on every continent. I bring to this role exceptional skills in analysis, critical thinking, leadership, complex problem-solving and communication—skills honed across decades of global professional practice.

I am a Liberal Democrat to my core. I believe in personal liberty—live and let live—and will defend it without compromise. I believe inequality must be challenged at every turn. I believe in democracy, in empowerment and in the principle that decisions should be made as close to communities as possible within a federal framework. I voted No in 2014 and Remain in 2016. I have no interest in nationalism or identity politics. My focus is on people.

My PhD research concluded that the purpose of leadership is to build community—and I carry that conviction into everything I do. Central Scotland and Cumbernauld deserve a strong, credible, values-driven voice in Holyrood. I intend to be that voice.

For media enquiries: media@scotlibdems.org.uk