Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
and
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
as
Secretary of State for Defence
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
Kilwinning
Kilwinning (, sco, Kilwinnin; gd, Cill D’Fhinnein) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Pa ...
, North Ayrshire, lived in Stevenston for the early part of his life, and was educated at the Catholic St Michael's Academy in
Kilwinning
Kilwinning (, sco, Kilwinnin; gd, Cill D’Fhinnein) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Pa ...
and later at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, where he received a
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
in
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
.
Legal career
He started his legal career in 1974 as an apprentice solicitor with the firm James Campbell & Co. On qualifying in 1976 he became an assistant solicitor with Ross, Harper and Murphy, and was promoted to partner in 1980. He became a partner in McCluskey Browne in 1985, and was a council member of the
Law Society of Scotland
The Law Society of Scotland is the professional governing body for Scottish solicitors. It promotes excellence among solicitors through the support and regulation of its members. It also promotes the interests of the public in relation to the ...
from 1988 to 1992. He was admitted as an advocate in 1993, practising at the Scottish bar until 1997. He worked mainly in child law.
Parliamentary career
Browne contested the
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
seat of
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
MP
Ray Michie
Janet Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach (''née'' Bannerman; 4 February 1934 – 6 May 2008) was a Scottish speech therapist and Liberal Democrat politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Argyll and Bute for 14 years, from ...
. He was elected to the
Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...
in 1993. Browne was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Kilmarnock and Loudoun following the retirement of the sitting MP William McKelvey. Browne won the seat at the 1997 general election with a majority of 7,256. He made his
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 20 June 1997.
Browne joined the
Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee
The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee (or simply the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee's remit is to examine the expenditure, administ ...
Donald Dewar
Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000. He previously served as ...
in 1998. After Dewar left the Cabinet in 1999, to seek election as the First Minister of Scotland, Browne remained in post as PPS to the new Secretary of State John Reid. In 2000 he became the PPS to the
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...
at the
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...
.
On 27 November 2009, Browne announced his intention not to seek election in the 2010 general election.
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
's government as the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...
at the
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...
. He was promoted to
Minister of State for Work
The Minister of State for Employment is a mid-level position in the Department for Work and Pensions in the British government.
History
The office was previously held by Julie Marson following the resignation of Mims Davies
Miriam Jane Ali ...
in 2003, before moving to the Home Office in 2004 as the minister with responsibility for
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burde ...
Secretary of State for Defence
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...
on 5 May 2006. An advocate of the
UK Trident programme
Trident, also known as the Trident nuclear programme or Trident nuclear deterrent, covers the development, procurement and operation of nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom and their means of delivery. Its purpose as stated by the Ministry of ...
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
. He received the additional responsibilities of Secretary of State for Scotland in June 2007 after Brown became Prime Minister.
In a free parliamentary vote on 20 May 2008, Browne voted for cutting the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 12 weeks, along with two other Catholic cabinet ministers,
Ruth Kelly
Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010. Previously, she served as the Secretary of State for Transport, ...
and Paul Murphy. He returned to the backbenches in October 2008 following a cabinet reshuffle.
Browne gave evidence to the
Iraq Inquiry
The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)
He was created a life peer on 22 July 2010, taking the title Baron Browne of Ladyton, ''of Ladyton in Ayrshire and Arran''.
Activities after leaving government
Browne is vice chairman of the Washington, DC-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit, nonpartisan organisation founded in 2001 by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, who serves as co-chair and CEO, and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
founder and philanthropist
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he fo ...
. NTI's mission is to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Browne is convener of the European Leadership Network for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation. and he is also convenor of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation, established in October 2009.
He is a signatory of
Global Zero
Global Zero is a term in the literature of arms control that refers to the worldwide elimination of a weapons system, especially nuclear weapons or a particular class of nuclear weapons. In negotiations over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces ...
, a non-profit international initiative for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide.
Controversy over appointment as envoy to Sri Lanka
In February 2009, Browne was appointed by PM Brown as the government's
special envoy
Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...
to Sri Lanka. However, the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, fighting the LTTE rebel group, rejected Browne's appointment, stating that the British government made the appointment unilaterally, without consultation with the Sri Lankan government.