and the ban came into effect on 26 March 2006. For the last few years he has also been campaigning on knife crime and has made various proposals to tackle this issue in Scotland, including the mandatory reporting of knife attacks by hospitals to the police and the use of hand-held metal detectors at the doors of some pubs and clubs. He successfully moved an amendment to the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice Bill which doubled the maximum sentence for carrying a knife in public. He was a member of the SNPs National Executive Committee as well as serving as the Vice Convenor in charge of Publicity during 2003–2004. During the 2003–2007 session of Parliament he was a member of six Parliamentary cross party groups; Tobacco Control, Sport, Contemporary Scottish Music Industry, Culture and Media, Cancer and Food. He is currently a member of the following CPGs: Tobacco Control, Veterans, Golf and Universities and Colleges. The SNP hold a 'One Member One Vote' ballot of all Party members to determine the order of their candidates on the regional lists for the Scottish Parliament elections. Stewart Maxwell, who was third on the SNP list for the West of Scotland in 2003, was elected to first place on the SNP list for 2007 and topped the list again in 2011. In November 2006 he was made Honorary Vice-President of the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland for his work on the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places. Ahead of the 2016 elections, Maxwell was confirmed as the SNP's candidate for the Eastwood constituency in July 2015. In October it was announced that he would be second on the SNP's list of candidates for West Scotland. In a close contest, Conservative Jackson Carlaw won the seat and Labour's Ken Macintosh was pushed into third. Maxwell was not re-elected. Armed Forces Legal Action Maxwell was appointed as an honorary patron of Armed Forces Legal Action (AFLA) in April 2014. AFLA is a network of law firms committed to offering discounted legal services to members of the UK Armed Forces community. AFLA was founded by Scottish solicitor, Allan Steele, WS, who stood against Maxwell as the Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate in the Westminster Parliamentary election of 2001 and the Holyrood Parliamentary election of 2003. He is married with one daughter. References External links Personal website of Stewart Maxwell, MSP Scottish National