A chance conversation in a classroom with a bunch of school pupils helped set the sail for Colin Smyth’s journey into politics.
That was back in his old job, working as a modern studies teacher at Stranraer Academy.
He had been chatting away to the senior pupils about their career hopes and aspirations, but was left stunned by what they had to say.
“I asked them what they wanted to do when they left school and the vast majority planned on leaving the area,” said Mr Smyth.
“It was heartbreaking. There just weren’t the opportunities we needed to keep more of our young people in our region.”
That sad indictment on the lack of opportunities for young people within the region gave him some real direction as he stepped into politics.
As a Labour Party member, and born and raised in Dumfries, Colin was elected to Dumfries and Galloway Council in 2007, representing the Nith ward.
In 2016, he made the upgrade to MSP, being elected as an additional member representing the South Scotland region.
The 49-year-old said: “When I became a councillor, I wanted to do whatever I could to help try to change things and provide more opportunities for young people here.
“I campaigned for a decade for a South of Scotland Enterprise Agency as a councillor.”
“It was a bit of a twist of fate that I ended up serving on the Scottish Parliament committee that oversaw the law that established an agency and it’s good to see it now up and running.
“It now needs to make the big changes we need in the local economy to create those high paid, high skilled jobs that at least give young people the option of staying in, or returning to, Dumfries and Galloway if they want to.
“I also remember chairing one of the very first meetings to establish the Borderlands Initiative and it felt like herding cats, with five different councils across two countries but the work has been worth it with the recent signing of the Borderlands Growth Deal which will bring in £350m investment to the region.”
He added: “But there is so much more that needs to be done. Too often we are Scotland’s forgotten region and we don’t get the investment from government we need for example in local infrastructure, but we are partly to blame.
“I don’t think we do enough to make our voice heard. If you contrast our area with the Highlands and Islands, they got their act together decades ago, lobbied hard and have had an enterprise agency now for over 50 years and more recently a University of the Highlands and Islands.
“In many ways we are playing catch up. We need more of a Team DG approach-with everyone working together to make our regions voice heard.”
