Nicol Stephen

The Right Honourable The Lord Stephen
Official portrait, 2003
Deputy First Minister of Scotland
In office 27 June 2005 – 17 May 2007
First Minister	Jack McConnell
Preceded by	Jim Wallace
Succeeded by	Nicola Sturgeon
Ministerial offices Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning In office 27 June 2005 – 17 May 2007 First Minister Jack McConnell Preceded by Jim Wallace Succeeded by Position abolished Minister for Transport and Telecommunications In office 21 May 2003 – 27 June 2005 First Minister Jack McConnell Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Tavish Scott
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Life peerage 7 February 2011 Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen South In office 6 May 1999 – 22 March 2011 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Constituency abolished Member of Parliament for Kincardine and Deeside In office 7 November 1991 – 16 March 1992 Preceded by Alick Buchanan-Smith Succeeded by George Kynoch
Leader of Scottish Liberal Democrats
In office 23 June 2005 – 2 July 2008
Deputy	Michael Moore
Leader	Charles Kennedy Menzies Campbell Vince Cable (Acting) Nick Clegg
President	Malcolm Bruce
Preceded by	Jim Wallace
Succeeded by	Tavish Scott
Personal details
Born	Nicol Ross Stephen (1960-03-23) 23 March 1960 (age 64) Aberdeen, Scotland
Political party	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Spouse	Caris Doig (Lady Stephen)
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh

Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen (born 23 March 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Aberdeen South from 1999 to 2011, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008.

Stephen was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. Following the coalition agreement between the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Labour, he became Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. Later in the same parliamentary term he became Deputy Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs, and then for Education and Young People. Following the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, he joined the Scottish Executive cabinet as Minister for Transport.

In 2005, following the resignation of his predecessor Jim Wallace, Stephen was elected leader of the party and also became deputy first minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. He led his party into the 2007 election, where it won 16 seats (down one on 2003). He resigned as party leader on 2 July 2008, triggering a leadership election. In 2011 he joined the House of Lords. He became a patron of The Aberdeen Law Project in 2011.