Big Brother winner joins the Constitutional Commission team

Published on Sunday 27 April 2008 21:55

THE winner of Big Brother Celebrity Hijack, John Loughton, will be one of the new members of the Constitutional Commission, which holds its first official meeting in Holyrood today.

The 20-year-old political activist chairs the Scottish Youth Parliament and became a household name in Scotland after scooping the reality show crown.

He will sit with 14 other politicians from unionist parties, academics and community workers on the commission, which will meet today at 3pm.

Although the full list of members was expected to be made public last night, last minute negotiations were ongoing with at least one prospective member, The Scotsman understands.

Others expected to be on the panel include Glasgow University Professor Mona Siddiqui, former Tory minister Jamie Lindsay, Lord Elder and Baron Selkirk of Douglas, also known as James Douglas-Hamilton, a former Tory MSP.

It was claimed yesterday that George Reid, the former Presiding Officer and SNP MSP, had been blocked by the UK Labour party from sitting on the Commission as he was "too nationalist".

The commission will publish an interim report by the end of this year with a final report to go to Holyrood and Westminster by next spring.