Sir Patrick Johnston (1650–1736) of Edinburgh was a Scottish merchant and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 to 1707 and as a Whig in the British House of Commons between 1707 and 1713.
The company collapsed in 1698 after the ill-fated Darien Scheme an attempt to colonise Panama and all investors, including Johnston, lost a fortune.
It was not allowed for anyone to serve for more than two consecutive years as Provost and in 1702 he was succeeded by Hugh Cunningham of Bonnington.
He managed to obtain important concessions for Edinburgh, such as the continuation of the ale duty; and the majority of the council was persuaded to support union with England.
[1] After the Union of 1707 he was one of the Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain and was appointed Commissioner of the Equivalent.
On 19 November 1707, he presented a petition to the House from Scottish merchants complaining of the English failure to live up to promises of free trade under the Union.
He not stand at the 1708 British general election, giving way to Sir Samuel McClellan, who was then Provost of Edinburgh.
He voted for the ‘No Peace without Spain’ motion 7 December 1711 and opposed the Scottish toleration bill on 21 Jan. 1712.