Brian James Adam (10 June 1948 – 25 April 2013) was a Scottish politician and

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who served as Minister for Parliamentary Business and Chief Whip from 2011 to 2012. A member of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

(SNP), he was a

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) from 1999 to 2013. He was an MSP for the North East Scotland region from 1999 to 2003, then for the Aberdeen North constituency from 2003 to 2011, and for the Aberdeen Donside constituency from 2011 until his death in 2013. From 2007 to 2011, he was

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

for the minority SNP Government and Co-Convener of the Oil and Gas Cross Party Group.

Early life

Education and career

Brian James Adam was born on 10 June 1948 in Newmill,

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

. He attended

Keith Grammar School Keith Grammar School is a secondary school in, Moray, Scotland. It was built in 1965 by the Educational Committee of Banffshire County Council. the school roll was 450 pupils. It is administered by the Moray Council Education and Social Care Dep ...

and obtained a BSc (Hons) in

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and a MSc in

Clinical Pharmacology Clinical pharmacology is "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinical pharmacology ...

from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

. He began his career with

Glaxo GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, wh ...

Montrose, Angus Montrose ( ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Situated north of Dundee and south of Aberdeen, Montrose lies between the mouths of the River North Esk, Angus, North and River South Esk, South Esk rivers. It is the northe ...

from 1970 to 1973, before working as a biochemist at

City Hospital, Aberdeen City Hospital is a health facility on Urquhart Road in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History The facility, which was designed by William Smith, was established as an infectious diseases hospital in 1874. It was significantly ...

from 1973 to 1988. From 1988, Adam worked as the principal biochemist in the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is the largest hospital in the Grampian area, located on the Foresterhill site in Aberdeen, Scotland. ARI is a teaching hospital with around 900 inpatient beds, offering tertiary care for a population of over 600,000 acr ...

Early political years

Adam joined the

(SNP) in 1974 and he was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

activist prior to his election to Holyrood in 1999. He served three terms as a councillor for Middlefield and Heathryfold on Aberdeen District Council from 1988 to 1996 and on

Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Aberdeen City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Aberdeen was formerly governed by a municipal corporation, corporat ...

from 1995 until 1999. He stood as a candidate for the Aberdeen North constituency at the 1997 general election for the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

but Labour retained the seat with a majority of 10,000 votes.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

In the first election to the Scottish Parliament in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he contested Aberdeen North. Labour won the seat with a narrow majority of just 398 votes. Adam was elected from the regional list as the second North East Scotland regional MSP in 1999. At the 2003 election he stood for the Aberdeen North constituency, this time winning the seat from Labour with a majority of 457 votes. He retained the seat at the 2007 election with a significantly increased majority of 3,749 votes, and then again in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

in the renamed Aberdeen Donside with an even larger majority of 7,175 votes. After struggling with a long illness, his death from cancer was announced on 25 April 2013. Then-

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

paid tribute to Adam as "an outstanding politician, fine human being and a dear friend."

Personal life

Adam lived in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

with his wife Dorothy. He had five children and three grandchildren. He was an active member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). Adam was also follower of

Aberdeen Football Club Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were elected to the top ...

and attended the majority of their matches.

Spokesperson posts

* May 1999 to September 2000 –

Deputy Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...

* September 2000 to April 2003 – Deputy Business Manager & Deputy Chief Whip * May 2003 to September 2004 – Deputy Party Spokesperson on Education & Lifelong Learning * September 2004 – Deputy Party Spokesperson on Tourism

Parliamentary posts

In June 2003 he became the Convener of the Standards Committee. * May 2007 –

* May 2011 – September 2012 − Minister for Parliamentary Business and Chief Whip

References

External links

Official Blog
*
They Work For You.comThe Public Whip Voting Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Brian 1948 births People from Keith, Moray Scottish biochemists Scottish trade unionists Scottish National Party MSPs Scottish Latter Day Saints People educated at Keith Grammar School Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Scottish National Party councillors Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen constituencies Ministers of the Scottish Government 2013 deaths Councillors in Aberdeen