Alasdair Douglas Pinkerton is a British Liberal Democrat politician and academic who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for

Surrey Heath Surrey Heath is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Camberley. Much of the area is within the Metropolitan Green Belt. The ...

since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. He has been an associate professor in

geopolitics Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of State (polity), states: ''de fac ...

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

. Pinkerton currently sits on the

Liberal Democrat frontbench team The Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. While in Opposition (parliamentary), opposition, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats appoints a frontbench team of Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), ...

as the Spokesman for Northern Ireland.

Early life and academic career

Pinkerton was born and grew up in Scotland. He graduated with a degree in geography from the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

in 2001, and was an HMO landlord for a property in St Andrews between 2001 and 2005. In 2006, he completed a PhD in

, under the supervision of Klaus Dodds, exploring the emergence of the BBC Empire Service in the 1930s. Since 2009, Pinkerton has worked as an academic at Royal Holloway. At the time of his election to Parliament in 2024, he was a reader (associate professor) of geopolitics. He served as an accredited observer of the 2013 Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum, and has conducted research in regions affected by international disputes and geopolitical tensions.

Political career

Pinkerton first sought election to Parliament as a Liberal Democrat in the 2019 general election for

, finishing in second place behind the incumbent

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP,

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist who served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rish ...

. He spent the next five years pursuing Surrey Heath for the Liberal Democrats. The party took control of Surrey Heath Borough Council in 2023, for the first time in the borough's history. In the 2024 general election, Pinkerton was elected as MP for Surrey Heath with 44.8 per cent of the vote and a majority of 5,640. He became the first non-Conservative MP to represent the area in 118 years. On 18 September 2024,

Ed Davey Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, leader of the Liberal Democrat party since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State ...

announced his new Frontbench Team. Al Pinkerton became Spokesperson for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

within the team.

Published works

* *

References

External links

* * Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British geographers Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of the University of St Andrews Geopoliticians Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Surrey UK MPs 2024–present {{England-UK-MP-stub