Jeremy Purvis
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Jeremy Purvis, Baron Purvis of Tweed (born 15 January 1974) is a
Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1, ...
politician. 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 Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale from 2003 to 2011. In August 2013 it was announced that he would be elevated to the House of Lords. He is the leader of the Devo Plus cross-party group.


Background

He was born in
Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
, England, where he later attended school. He studied Politics and Modern History at
Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...
in London, graduating in 1996. While at university he worked for the ELDR (Liberal) Group in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
and
Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberalism, liberal political parties. The political international was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aim ...
.


Career

On graduating, Purvis worked full-time for Sir David Steel in 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 ...
and then ran his office in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
. In 1998 he moved to
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
to work for a parliamentary affairs company and in 2001 he established, with a fellow director, his own
strategic communication Strategic communication is the purposeful use of communication by an organization to reach a specific goal. Organizations like governments, corporations, Non-governmental organization, NGOs and Military, militaries seeking to communicate a concep ...
s consultancy, advising clients on communications. He 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'. ...
in 2003 aged 29, making him the youngest constituency MSP at the time. He was the Scottish Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesman and then moved on to become Justice and Home Affairs spokesman. He was re-elected in 2007 following a close campaign, with some of the media stating that 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, ...
candidate
Christine Grahame Christine Grahame (formerly Creech; born 9 September 1944) is a Scottish politician who served as a Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2016 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a Member o ...
would defeat him. Ultimately, both parties greatly increased their vote shares at the expense of the
Conservatives 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 civilizati ...
and Labour. Purvis's margin declined by 0.2 percentage points but increased by 65 votes; this discrepancy was due to a vast increase in turnout in the 2007 election. He was subsequently defeated by Grahame in the 2011 election. He was the Scottish Liberal Democrats Spokesman for the Economy and Finance. Mr Purvis wrote the Scottish Liberal Democrats 2011 Election Manifesto. He currently lives in
Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...
. He was created a
life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
on 13 September 2013 taking the title Baron Purvis of Tweed, of East March in the Scottish Borders. In November 2016 he was announced as a member of the
Commission on Parliamentary Reform The Commission on Parliamentary Reform was an independent group, established in October 2016 by Ken Macintosh, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. It is chaired by John McCormick and published its report, with recommendations, on 2 ...
, having been nominated to represent the Scottish Liberal Democrats.


References


External links

*
Jeremy Purvis MSP
profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats {{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Jeremy 1974 births Living people Alumni of Brunel University London People from Berwick-upon-Tweed Liberal Democrat MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II