Jeremy Balfour was educated at Edinburgh Academy and went on to become a solicitor before studying Theology in London.
He returned to Edinburgh in 1999 and worked for a charity lobbying the Scottish Parliament.
Balfour then become an assistant minister in a Baptist Church in the city, and in 2005 he was elected a Councillor for Murrayfield. He is involved in a number of charities working in Edinburgh.
He stepped down as leader of the council’s Conservative Group in October 2012 and at present is the Convenor of the Governance Risk and Audit Committee. He has lived most of his life in the city and enjoys most sports. He is married and has twin girls who were born in 2011.
With all of this local politics in his background it is perhaps no real surprise that he is throwing his hat into the Holyrood ring, and not for the first time.
#SP16 Jeremy Balfour Conservative candidate from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
He explained that he is a firm believer that Holyrood is now come of age but must start taking more responsibility. He said: “I think for the first time Scottish politicians can stop blaming Westminster and stop saying that it’s all the fault of those nasty people in London. They can now say we are responsible so next time the SNP say there is no money then we can ask why did they not raise the tax to pay for it.
“Next May the situation changes. I believe that Scotland does not want to pay any more tax than those people south of the Border.
“If you look at the opinion polls the Conservative voice is getting louder. The Conservatives have a great chance to become the official opposition this time round.”
Balfour is hailed as a local hero by the campaigners who oppose a cycle path through Roseburn: “Councillor Jeremy Balfour, who is fourth on the Tory list for Lothian- but should be, in truth- for his steadfast opposition to the track and profound commitment to social justice, number 1.
“Jeremy was the man who brought the impending disaster of the track to his constituents’ attention in early December (when the Council neglected to notify the residents of its plans) and was the first to sign the petition. For these actions alone, he is a local hero.”
High praise indeed!
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
Re the cycle route that Cllr Balfour is opposing, it is not true that residents were not informed. I live in Roseburn and received leaflets and I have heard that the council invited local businesses to attend the stakeholder meeting March last year.
The proposed route is in Murrayfield Community Council’s own minutes March to June 2015.
That is only one example of the misinformation about the route.
One of Cllr Balfour’s objections is that delay will cause frustration among drivers and they could become dangerous, or so he said at a Murrayfield Community Council meeting.
Cyclists’ bad behaviour eg running red lights is often given as a reason not to make decent cycling provision. It seems that car drivers’ bad behaviour is a reason that they should get maximum provision.
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