Brian Fitzpatrick (born 1961) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and former

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is repres ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was the

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) for Strathkelvin and Bearsden between 2001 and 2003. In 1999,

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 ' ...

Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish statesman and politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000 and leader of the Labour Par ...

appointed him as Head of Policy in the First Minister's Policy Unit, but he resigned from this post following Dewar's death in 2000. Fitzpatrick was elected to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

on 7 June 2001 in the Strathkelvin and Bearsden by-election following the resignation of Sam Galbraith for health reasons. He stood in the same seat in the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, but finished second, 438 votes (1.2%) behind independent hospital campaigner Dr

Jean Turner Jean McGivern Turner (born 23 December 1939) is a Scottish medical doctor and former independent (politician), Independent politician. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Scottish Parliament con ...

Early life

He attended St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic school in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

before studying

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. Between 1985 and 1992, he worked as a solicitor.

Post-political career

Following his time in the Scottish Parliament he works as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

and personal injury lawyer.

References

External links

* 1961 births Living people Labour MSPs Politicians from Glasgow Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish solicitors Scottish Roman Catholics Scottish people of Irish descent Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 {{Scotland-law-bio-stub