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{{Short description|British farmer, businessman and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = James Provan
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| constituency_MP = [[North East Scotland (European Parliament constituency)|North East Scotland]]
| parliament = European
| term_start = 1979
| term_end = 1989
| predecessor = ''New constituency''
| successor = [[Henry McCubbin]]
| constituency_MP2 = [[South Downs West (European Parliament constituency)|South Downs West]]
| parliament2 = European
| term_start2 = 1994
| term_end2 = 2004
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1936|12|19}}
| birth_place = Scotland
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]
}}
'''James Lyal Clark Provan''' (born 19 December 1936) is a British farmer, businessman and politician who served four terms as a [[Member of the European Parliament]]. A member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], he specialised in agriculture, and became a critic of the development of the [[European Union]] and especially of the [[European Commission]].

==Family and education==
Provan was born in [[Scotland]] and attended [[Ardvreck School]] in [[Crieff]] before going to [[Oundle School]], a public school in [[Northamptonshire]]. Rather than pursue an academic career he went on to the [[Royal Agricultural College]] in [[Cirencester]]. In 1960 he married Roweena Lewis; they have a daughter and twin sons.

==Perthshire==
In 1965 Provan became area President of [[Perthshire]] for the [[National Farmers Union of Scotland]], a position which he also held in 1971. He was an active member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in [[Perth and East Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Perth and East Perthshire]], being Treasurer of the local association from 1975 to 1977. He was a member of the [[Lord Lieutenant]]'s Queen's [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Jubilee]] Appeal Committee in 1977.

==Political career==
Provan was elected to [[Tayside]] Regional Council in 1978, serving on the [[River Tay|Tay River]] Purification Board. He was selected to be the Conservative Party candidate for North East Scotland for the [[1979 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1979 European Parliament election]], and won the seat despite only obtaining 33% of the vote when his opponents divided the rest evenly.

===Agriculture committee===
Immediately appointed to the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee, in March 1980 Provan voted against a proposal to increase farm prices by 7.9% because of its consequential increase in the European budget requirement and the proportion devoted to agricultural subsidies.<ref name="Farm prices">"Tory voting in Europe" (letter), ''The Times'', 24 March 1980, p. 15.</ref> That May he was a rapporteur on a report calling for a full intervention scheme in the [[mutton]] and [[Lamb and mutton|lamb]] market, which had been passed by 11 votes to 10 after French pressure and against British resistance. The Commission rejected the proposal.<ref name="Mutton and Lamb">"Full intervention scheme for mutton and lamb ruled out", ''The Times'', 21 May 1980, p. 12.</ref> Provan became the [[European Democrats|European Democrat group]] spokesman on agriculture in 1982.

Provan sponsored an emergency motion in September 1983 which condemned [[Greece]] for blocking a common European response criticising the [[Soviet Union]] shooting down of [[Korean Air Lines Flight 007]].<ref name="Greek motion">"Euro-MPs table motion censuring Greece for blunting EEC protest", ''The Times'', 14 September 1983, p. 6.</ref> He was re-elected in [[1984 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|the 1984 election]] with a slight improvement in his vote but still only polled 34%.

===Mafia===
On Provan's initiative the European Parliament set up a team to monitor the effect of [[milk quota]] system in 1984.<ref name="Milk quotas">"EEC team to tackle milk quota cheating", ''The Times'', 14 September 1984, p. 8.</ref> In January 1985 he endorsed the claim of a [[Sicily|Sicilian]] Communist MEP that [[Sicilian Mafia|the Mafia]] was taking a great deal of European Community funds, stating that three former Members of the European Parliament were involved with the Mafia and that they must also have infiltrated the senior ranks of the European Commission.<ref name="Mafia">"Mafia accused of milking millions from EEC in big farming fraud", ''The Times'', 17 January 1985, p. 7.</ref>

==Defeat==
Provan was elected as a [[Quaestor (European Parliament)|Quaestor]] in 1987, a job that gave him responsibility for the Parliament's finance and administration. The same year he became a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Arts]]. He published his analysis of the development of the European Community, "The European Community: an ever closer union?", in 1989. However, the unpopularity of the Conservative Party in Scotland made his position especially vulnerable and at the [[1989 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1989 European election]] he was defeated, coming in third behind both the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and the [[Scottish National Party]].

After leaving the European Parliament, Provan went into business, becoming Chairman of McIntosh Donald Ltd and of James McIntosh & Co. He was also executive director of Scottish Financial Enterprise from 1990 to 1991, and became a member of the [[Agricultural and Food Research Council]]. From 1992 to 1998 he was chairman of the [[Rowett Research Institute]].

==Retread==
Having a home in the south of England, Provan was selected as Conservative candidate for South Downs West in the run-up to the [[1994 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|1994 European Parliament election]], a much better area for the Conservatives. He was elected with a 21,000 majority and became the Chief [[Whip (politics)|Whip]] for the Conservative Group. The tensions in the group became apparent when it split three ways in a vote on approving the [[Santer Commission]]; Provan himself voted against.<ref name="Santer Commission">George Brock, "Tories in disarray on Santer team vote", ''The Times'', 19 January 1995, p. 1.</ref>

===Animal welfare===
Provan successfully moved a motion calling for a ban on veal crates and a maximum journey time of eight hours for live cattle being transported across Europe in 1995.<ref name="Veal crates">Dominic Kennedy, "Protesters tried to stop Bardot going to funeral", ''The Times'', 16 February 1995, p. 1.</ref> During the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election campaign]], he contradicted a claim by the [[Referendum Party]] on the extent of gold reserves which the [[Bank of England]] would have to transfer for the [[Pound sterling]] to join the [[Euro]].<ref name="Gold reserves">"No question of moving all Bank of England reserves to Europe" (letter), ''Financial Times'', 16 April 1997, p. 26.</ref>

===Reselection===
He became a Vice President of the [[European People's Party]] and the party's Chief Whip in 1996. In the transition to a regional list system for elections to the European Parliament, Provan was chosen on top of the list for the [[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]], attributed to his support for party leader [[William Hague]]'s position on the single currency.<ref name="1998 selection">Fran Abrams, "Hague's victory for euro sceptics", ''The Independent'', 1 June 1998, p. 2.</ref> After his re-election, Provan was elected a Vice President of the European Parliament.

Provan's decision to help unveil a Scottish pro-European Union poster alongside members of other parties in October 1999 caused some trouble. Provan reminded his critics that he had voted against the euro and said that he believed Britain should join a successful single European currency.<ref name="Poster">Jason Allardyce, Tom Baldwin, "Top Tory backs Scottish Europe campaign", ''The Times'', 19 October 1999; p. 1.</ref> However, Provan pulled out of the event at the last minute,<ref name="Poster withdrawal">Ian Swanson, "Party Chiefs team up for Euro battle", ''Edinburgh Evening News'', 19 October 1999, p. 8.</ref> facing reported disciplinary action. He explained that it had not been made clear to him that he was the sole Scottish Conservative representative, and that it was wrong for him to go as his European Parliament constituency was in England.<ref name="Tory retreat">Jason Allardyce, "Tory in retreat from united front on euro", ''The Times'', 20 October 1999, p. 10.</ref>

==Retirement==
In November 2001 Provan pushed the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament to undertake an inquiry into the [[2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis]], after the United Kingdom government had refused to hold one.<ref name="Foot and mouth">Vic Robertson, "Strasbourg set to host FMD inquiry", ''The Herald'', 6 November 2001; p. 25.</ref> He stood down from the European Parliament in 2004.

==References==
*"Who's Who", A & C Black
*"Debrett's People of Today", Debrett's.
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provan, James}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scottish Conservative MEPs]]
[[Category:People educated at Ardvreck School]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University]]
[[Category:MEPs for Scotland 1979–1984]]
[[Category:MEPs for Scotland 1984–1989]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 1994–1999]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 1999–2004]]
[[Category:People educated at Oundle School]]

James Provan - Revision history

imported>Atremari: Added short description #article-add-desc