First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Stewart Stevenson Party Scottish National Party Service/branch Royal Marines | First Minister Nicola Sturgeon First Minister Alex Salmond Education University of Dundee Battles and wars Falklands War | |
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Succeeded by Derek Mackay (as Minister for Transport and Islands Profiles | ||
Keith James Brown (born 20 December 1961) is a Scottish politician and former Royal Marine who has been the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work since May 2016. He is a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), first representing the Ochil constituency 2007–2011, then the Clackmannanshire and Dunblane constituency since 2011.
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Early career
Born in Edinburgh, Brown attended Tynecastle High School in the city, before joining the Royal Marines and serving in the Falklands War. Upon leaving the Marines he attended the University of Dundee where he joined the SNP, graduating in Politics in 1988. He then went to work in local government administration.
He was the SNP candidate for the European Parliament for Lothians constituency in 1994, coming second with 53,324 votes. Brown was then elected to represent Alva on Clackmannanshire Council in a by-election in 1996. He became group leader in 1997, and then Leader of the Council after the SNP took control of Clackmannanshire in the 2003 elections.
Holyrood
Brown was elected to the Scottish Parliament by Ochil constituency at the 2007 elections, increasing both absolute SNP vote and majority.
He was appointed to be Convener of both the Parliament's Standards & Public Appointments Committee and Procedures Committee, and after overseeing their merger now convenes the new Standards, Procedures & Public Appointments Committee.
In his maiden speech on the abolition of bridge tolls he declared that he still had an outstanding fine from the Skye Bridge protests of 1994. He has been an opponent of the proposals for an overhead electricity line from Beauly to Denny, arguing for an underground alternative. Brown has also been campaigning for Scotland football matches to be available on terrestrial television.
On 12 February 2009, Brown was appointed Minister for Schools and Skills. On 8 December 2009, Brown became Minister for Schools and Skills In the first reshuffle of the SNP Government. In December 2010, he was appointed as Minister for Transport and Infrastructure in the Scottish government.
Brown won re-election to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, representing the newly created Clackmannanshire and Dunblane. On 19 May 2011, Brown was named as the Minister for Housing and Transport. On 5 September 2012, he became Minister for Transport and Veterans.
SNP Depute leadership bid, 2014
Following defeat in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014, Scottish National Party leader and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond announced his resignation as SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland. In the aftermath of his resignation, a leadership bid was launched, with Deputy First Minister of Scotland and SNP Depute leader Nicola Sturgeon widely tipped to become Salmond's successor.
On 25 September 2014, Brown officially launched his bid to become the Depute leader of the Scottish National Party, with the backing of several SNP MSPs, as well as several Scottish Government ministers. The results of the election were announced at the SNP Autumn Conference on the 14 November, with Brown losing the contest to Stewart Hosie, with 45.5% of the vote in the second round to Hosie's 55.5%.
Cabinet
On 21 November 2014, he was promoted to Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities in Nicola Sturgeon's first reshuffle. Brown was re-elected to the Clackmannanshire and Dunblane constituency in 2016. On 18 May he became the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work.