Mairi Gougeon barred from lobbying SNP — in her new lobbying role

A former SNP cabinet minister has been barred from lobbying her former colleagues for two years after she was hired to become a “strong and persuasive voice” for Scotland’s fishing sector. Mairi Gougeon will become the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, six months after stepping down as the cabinet member with responsibility for fishing policy. 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Top stories 1 Brazil election results: Flavio Bolsonaro sets up bitter contest with Lula Latin America 2 Andrew takes Thames Valley police to court over Jeffrey Epstein investigation Royal family 3 The Times LUXX cartoon: October 5, 2026 LUXX 4 The Devon boys making posh ready meals LUXX 5 14 luxury home fragrances for winter LUXX She has also been told that in her new role, she must never make any use of any confidential “privileged information” she obtained during her time as a minister. John Swinney’s advisers on the ministerial code signed the appointment off only on the condition that these rules were followed. Advertisement However, Open Seas, the marine conservation charity, said Gougeon’s move, within six months, from regulating the fishing industry to leading its most powerful lobby group raised serious questions. Top stories 1 Six thrilling Costa Rica trips with Times Holidays Promoted content Its director, Phil Taylor, said: “We are expected to believe that the incoming head of the SFF will not engage in any lobbying on behalf of the organisation, while she is also prohibited from drawing on private information received during her years in government. That hardly seems credible, and it’s unclear how any transparency watchdog will enforce these conditions.” Open Seas took successful legal action against SNP fishing policies while Gougeon was in post, and the charity warned an overlap in Gougeon’s appointment could undermine future decisions. “The Scottish government is currently consulting on whether or not to protect inshore marine habitats from damaging fishing practices, a consultation which was designed during the former cabinet secretary’s time in government,” Taylor added. “Concerns over a revolving door between industry and government will clearly undermine trust in that process. “We need ministers to provide confidence to people across Scotland, and particularly in neglected coastal communities, that this consultation won’t simply represent a tick box exercise designed to deliver exactly what the SFF wants.” Advertisement Phil Taylor, director of Open Seas. The charity has warned that an overlap in Gougeon’s appointment could undermine future decisions For two years after leaving office, former ministers are obliged to seek permission to take on new paid roles to ensure they “do not profit improperly” from their time in government and so their employer does not gain an unfair advantage through “privileged access”. The SFF said the rules would not prevent Gougeon from engaging with the government and officials, and that “arrangements will be put in place” to ensure she followed the conditions. However, questions were raised over what processes would be in place to police the arrangements, with lobbying government over policy seen as integral to the body’s work. A prawn trawler off Troon Alamy In recent years, the fishing industry has had a fractious relationship with the SNP administration, over issues such as Brexit, offshore wind and environmental restrictions. They clashed spectacularly over proposals for new highly protected marine areas , which were abandoned in the last parliament after the SFF led a major backlash. Despite tensions, the SNP government has also funded the body over recent years, with Gougeon telling MSPs in January that the body she will now lead had been one of the beneficiaries of a £14m marine fund. Advertisement Gougeon was appointed after an open recruitment process in which several candidates were interviewed, the SFF said. She joined the group this month to work alongside the current chief executive, Elspeth Macdonald, and will take over from her when she retires in March next year. Elspeth Macdonald is due to retire in March next year The Times PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE Announcing her appointment, Hannah Fennell, its president, said Gougeon would bring “an excep­tional under­stand­ing of fish­er­ies policy, gov­ern­ment and the polit­ical and reg­u­lat­ory envir­on­ment in which our industry oper­ates”. She added that Gougeon would be a “strong and per­suas­ive voice mak­ing the case for an industry which pro­duces sus­tain­able, nutri­tious food, sup­ports thou­sands of jobs and remains fun­da­mental to the future of many of Scot­land’s coastal and island com­munit­ies”. Gougeon became an MSP in 2016 and was quickly appointed to the government by Nicola Sturgeon. She entered the cabinet in 2021, remaining there until she stepped down from frontline politics in May. Rachael Hamilton, the Scottish Tory deputy leader, said the public would want to be assured she had not won the role as a result of “cosy connections” and questioned whether the conditions attached to her job would “have any real teeth”. Advertisement She said: “If Mairi Gougeon wants to show she is truly unbiased, she should start by voicing her opposition to previous SNP proposals which would force Scottish fishermen to be squeezed out of their fishing grounds.” Rachael Hamilton, the Scottish Conservatives’ deputy leader KEN JACK/GETTY IMAGES An SFF spokesman said policy had been determined by its executive committee and that others could undertake lobbying duties while the restrictions applied. “The restriction relates specifically to lobbying government to influence decisions and to using contacts acquired in ministerial office to secure an unfair advantage for SFF,” he said. “Ms Gougeon and SFF fully accept those conditions and arrangements will be in place to ensure they are observed. “The chief executive’s role is considerably wider than lobbying the Scottish government. It includes leading the federation and its commercial companies, managing the organisation, working with our constituent associations and wider fishing industry, contributing to policy development, representing SFF publicly and in the media, and engaging with a wide range of governments, organisations and stakeholders in Scotland, the UK and internationally.” A Scottish government representative said: “The former cabinet secretary followed the Business Appointment Rules for ministers in line with her continuing obligations under the ministerial code.”