Derek Brownlee (born 10 August 1974) is a Scottish accountant and politician. A member of the

Scottish Conservative Party 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 ...

, he was a

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 add ...

(MSP) for the South of Scotland region from 2005 to 2011.

Background

Brownlee grew up in

Selkirk, Scottish Borders Selkirk is a town and historic royal burgh in the Scottish Borders council district of southeastern Scotland. It lies on the Ettrick Water, a tributary of the River Tweed. The people of the town are known as Souters, which means cobblers (sho ...

and went to

Selkirk High School Selkirk High School is a high school in Selkirk, Scotland, which serves the town and its surrounding area including the Ettrick and Yarrow valleys and the villages of Midlem and Lilliesleaf. The school's motto is 'Trusty and Leal', taken from ...

. He graduated in

Scots Law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland ...

LLB (Hons) from the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

in 1996, and then trained as a chartered accountant. He worked as a chartered accountant at

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Delo ...

from 1996 to 2002, the

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and inco ...

from 2002 to 2004 and

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professio ...

from 2004 to 2005.

Political career

In the

2003 Scottish Parliament election The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Labour Party MSP, rem ...

Brownlee stood as the Conservative candidate in Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale constituency, finishing fourth but within 1,500 votes of winning the seat. He became an MSP on 17 April 2005, following

David Mundell David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish politician and solicitor who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for D ...

resigning his regional seat at Holyrood following his election as MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency in the 2005 General Election. Brownlee was next on the Conservative's list for the South of Scotland region. Brownlee was appointed the Conservative's finance spokesman in Holyrood in July 2005, replacing

Annabel Goldie Annabel MacNicoll Goldie, Baroness Goldie (born 27 February 1950) is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and has served as Minister of State for Defence since 2019. Sh ...

who became the party's leader in Scotland. Brownlee stood at the 2007 Holyrood elections, contesting the Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale constituency, coming third – pushing the Labour candidate into fourth place. He was again elected as an additional member for the South of Scotland region. After the 2007 election, Brownlee was a member of the Scottish Parliament's Finance Committee and a substitute member of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit. In 2010 Brownlee was selected by the

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the hi ...

Conservative Party as their candidate for the

at the 2011 Holyrood election. Brownlee was placed at the top of the Conservatives' South Scotland list after a ballot of party members. At the 2011 election, the Conservatives took three constituency seats in the region but no regional seats and Brownlee failed to be re-elected.

Notes

References

External links

Derek Brownlee MSP
personal site
Derek Brownlee MSP
Personal Blog *
Derek Brownlee MSP
profile at the site of the Scottish Conservative Party
Derek Brownlee MSP
profile at the site of the Conservative Party {{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlee, Derek 1974 births Living people People from Selkirk, Scottish Borders People educated at Selkirk High School Conservative MSPs Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Scottish accountants Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011