Gideon Francis Harper (October 8, 1900 - September 13, 1985) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 1946 until 1957, and as leader of the Social Democrats from 1942 until 1960. In his nearly two decades as the central political figure in Scotland, Harper built a powerful political coalition of left-wing labor groups as well as a variety of interests of a more commercial and international nature from southern Scotland, accentuating the culmination of the shift in power in Scotland from the Highlands back towards Edinburgh.