Jeremy Purvis, Baron Purvis of Tweed (born 15 January 1974) is a

Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 o ...

politician. He was the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale from 2003 to 2011. In August 2013 it was announced that he would be

elevated to the House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

. He is the leader of the Devo Plus cross-party group.

Background

He was born in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, where he later attended school. He studied Politics and Modern History at Brunel University in London, graduating in 1996. While at university he worked for the ELDR (Liberal) Group in the European Parliament and Liberal International.

Career

On graduating, Purvis worked full-time for

Sir David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...

in the House of Commons and then ran his office in the House of Lords. In 1998 he moved to Edinburgh to work for a parliamentary affairs company and in 2001 he established, with a fellow director, his own

strategic communication Strategic communication can mean either communicating a concept, a process, or data that satisfies a long-term strategic goal of an organization by allowing facilitation of advanced planning, or communicating over long distances usually using inter ...

s consultancy, advising clients on communications. He was elected to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

in 2003 aged 29, making him the youngest constituency MSP at the time. He was the Scottish Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesman and then moved on to become Justice and Home Affairs spokesman. He was re-elected in 2007 following a close campaign, with some of the media stating that the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

candidate Christine Grahame would defeat him. Ultimately, both parties greatly increased their vote shares at the expense of the Conservatives and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. Purvis's margin declined by 0.2 percentage points but increased by 65 votes; this discrepancy was due to a vast increase in turnout in the 2007 election. He was subsequently defeated by Grahame in the 2011 election. He was the Scottish Liberal Democrats Spokesman for the Economy and Finance. Mr Purvis wrote the Scottish Liberal Democrats 2011 Election Manifesto. He currently lives in Galashiels. He was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

on 13 September 2013 taking the title Baron Purvis of Tweed, of East March in the Scottish Borders. In November 2016 he was announced as a member of the

Commission on Parliamentary Reform The Commission on Parliamentary Reform was an independent group, established in October 2016 by Ken Macintosh, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. It is chaired by John McCormick and published its report, with recommendations, on 20 ...

, having been nominated to represent the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

References

External links

*
Jeremy Purvis MSP
profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats {{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Jeremy 1974 births Living people People from Berwick-upon-Tweed Liberal Democrat MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II