Liam Kerr (born 23 January 1975) is a British politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020 and as the Scottish Conservatives’ Shadow

Cabinet Secretary for Justice Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Fili ...

from 2017 to 2021. Kerr has served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills since 2023 and as 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) for the North East Scotland region since

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Early life and education

Liam Kerr grew up in

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 ...

, and was educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

, 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 ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he graduated with a MA (Hons.) degree in Sociology in 1997. Having spent time employed as a chef in an Edinburgh restaurant, upon finishing his education he moved to London, working as a session musician and as a salesman in the telecoms industry. He then studied at the College of Law (now the

University of Law The University of Law (founded in 1962 as The College of Law of England and Wales) is a Private university, private Proprietary college, for-profit university in the United Kingdom, providing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law, busi ...

), gaining a

Common Professional Examination The Common Professional Examination/Postgraduate Diploma in Law (CPE/PGDL) is a postgraduate law course in England and Wales taken by non-law graduates (graduates who do not have a qualifying law degree for legal practice) wishing to become eit ...

award in 2000 and a Legal Practice Certificate the following year.

Career

Initially training as a lawyer with a firm based on the south coast of England, Kerr moved to Aberdeen in 2004 and became an employment lawyer. During his time at Aberdeen, he has given lectures at

Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU (), is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthrop ...

and 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 ...

, been a director of two charities, and performed classical and jazz piano. Kerr has been an accredited specialist employment lawyer since 2015. Prior to his election, he operated his own practice. He is a member and former chairman of the Aberdeen 100 Round Table, and a former member of St Fittick Rotary club.

Politics

Kerr is the

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Ki ...

' Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice. He served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, alongside Annie Wells, under

Jackson Carlaw David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from February to July 2020, having acted in the position since August 2019. He previously served as Deputy Leader of th ...

. However, they both were dismissed and the post was abolished shortly after Douglas Ross became Scottish Conservative leader in August 2020. In 2016, he stood for 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'. ...

as the Conservative candidate in Aberdeen Donside, coming second to the SNP's Mark McDonald, then was elected on the regional list. In June 2017, Kerr was appointed by the Scottish Conservatives as their for spokesperson for Justice in the Scottish Parliament. He sits on the Justice Committee and is deputy convenor of the Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee. In March 2021 Kerr voted for a motion of no confidence in

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 ' ...

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

alleging that she had knowingly misled

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In the 2021 Scottish election Kerr stood for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat and came second to the SNP.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Liam 1975 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Scottish solicitors Labour lawyers People educated at George Watson's College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Law Conservative MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026