Russell Leslie Brown (born 17 September 1951) is a

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

politician. He is a former

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 of ...

(MP) for

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

(1997–2005) and

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

(2005–2015). He lost his seat at the 2015 general election to

Richard Arkless Richard Lambert Thomas Arkless (born 7 July 1975) is a Scottish National Party politician, who was elected as MP for Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency), Dumfries and Galloway at the 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 UK ...

of 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 ...

. *

Early years

Russell Brown was born in Annan,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and attended the local

Annan Academy Annan Academy is a secondary school in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Annan, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The present school is the result of an amalgamation in 1921 of the original Annan Academy and Greenknowe Public School, although its h ...

. In 1974 he began work as a plant operative at ICI and remained with the company until his election to

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

Political history

He was elected as a branch chairman within the

Transport and General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

1979–1985. In 1986, Brown was elected as a councillor to the

Regional Council, and was the Labour Group Leader 1995–97. Between 1988 and 1996 he also served as a councillor on the

Annandale and Eskdale Annandale and Eskdale is a committee area in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It covers the areas of Annandale and Eskdale, the straths of the River Annan and the River Esk respectively. From 1975 until 1996 it was a local government district ...

District Council. He was selected to contest the seemingly safe Conservative and Unionist seat of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

at the

1997 UK General Election The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179 seat majority. ...

. The MP of 33 years, Hector Monro retired and the Conservative and Unionist candidate was

Struan Stevenson Struan John Stirton Stevenson (born 4 April 1948) is a Scottish politician. He was the Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Scotland from 1999 to 2014 and chair and Vice Chair of the Committee on Fisheries, in addition to whi ...

. The Conservative Party were completely wiped out in Scotland in 1997, and he was elected as the Labour MP for Dumfries with a majority of 9,643 votes. 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 ...

in the House of Commons on Monday 7 July 1997. Russell Brown became a Member of the

Scottish Affairs ''Scottish Affairs'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering Scottish politics. It was established in 1992 and has been published by Edinburgh University Press since 2014. It is the successor to the ''Scottish Government Yearbooks'', whic ...

Select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

in 1999, and left the committee after the 2001 general election. He was made a

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

, Gareth Wyn Williams of Mostyn in 2002. When Williams died in 2003, he continued in the same position with his successor

Valerie Amos Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos, (born 13 March 1954) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Before he ...

. Brown resigned from the government in 2003 in protest at the proposed military intervention in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, stepping down from his position as parliamentary aide to

Lord Williams of Mostyn Gareth Wyn Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn, (5 February 1941 – 20 September 2003), was a Welsh barrister and Labour politician who was Leader of the House of Lords, Lord President of the Council and a member of the Cabinet from 2001 until ...

, leader of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Brown subsequently "voted against saying that the case for war against Iraq has not yet been established" and was absent for the vote to declare war. In the major redistribution of Scottish seats, his constituency of Dumfries was abolished and the new seat of Dumfries and Galloway was created. At the 2005 general election he faced the sitting Conservative MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale Peter Duncan. Brown defeated Duncan, and was elected with a majority of 2,922 votes. Following the general election, he became the PPS to the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (born 28 November 1953) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Member ...

and his successor

Jim Murphy James Francis Murphy (born 23 August 1967) is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2014 to 2015 and Secretary of State for Scotland from 2008 to 2010. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Ren ...

. At the 2010 general election Russell Brown was again challenged by Peter Duncan, the Conservative MP he defeated five years previously; who is now a councillor on Dumfries and Galloway Council. Despite Labour losing the election nationally, Russell Brown's popularity locally meant he almost tripled his majority to 7,449 votes. In October 2010, Russell Brown was appointed to Labour's front bench as a Shadow Defence Minister. His brief is Shadow

Minister for International Security Strategy The Minister for International Security Strategy was a British government position. The last holder of the post was Andrew Murrison, Conservative Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence, The post was a junior ministeri ...

. He was also a member of the

Public Bill Committee In the British House of Commons, public bill committees (known as standing committees before 2006) consider Bills – proposed Acts of Parliament. The House of Lords does not have such committees, as Bills are usually considered by the House as a ...

for the Defence Reform Act. Brown lost his seat at the 2015 general election, finishing in third place with 13,982 votes behind the

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

' Finlay Carson with 16,926 votes and the winner: SNP's

with 23,440 votes.

Personal life

He married Christine Margaret Calvert in 1973 and they have two daughters together. He speaks French and German. Brown is a supporter of Queen of the South. He has appeared on television speaking about the club, and tabled an

early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, expressed as a single sentence, Table (parliamentary procedure), tabled by Member of Parliament, members of Parliament that formally ...

in the House of Commons congratulating them on their reaching the semi-final of the 2008 Scottish Cup.

References

External links

Russell Brown
official site *

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/russell_brown/dumfries_and_galloway TheyWorkForYou.com – Russell Brown MPbr>Russell Brown's voting record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Russell 1951 births Living people Scottish Labour councillors Scottish republicans Scottish Labour MPs Scottish trade unionists UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 People from Annan, Dumfries and Galloway People educated at Annan Academy