Alexander Andrew Mackay Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, (born 23 June 1940), known as Derry Irvine, is a Scottish

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 politician who served as

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

from 1997 to 2003. He founded and headed 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers in the 1980s, and later became a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

and Deputy High Court Judge. A member of the Labour Party, Irvine was appointed to 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 1987 and served as

Shadow Lord Chancellor The shadow lord chancellor is a member of the United Kingdom, British Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Cabinet shadowing the Lord Chancellor, lord chancellor, an office which has existed since the Norman Conquest. Sinc ...

from 1992 to 1997. He was appointed to the position in

Cabinet 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 * Filin ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, his former pupil, after the 1997 election and served until his dismissal in 2003.

Early life and education

Alexander Andrew Mackay Irvine was born on 23 June 1940 in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

to a roofer and a waitress. He was educated at the independent Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar 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 ...

. Irvine studied

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, where he became involved in debating through the

Glasgow University Dialectic Society The Glasgow University Dialectic Society, re-instituted in 1861, is a student society at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, committed to the promotion of debating, logic, ethics and literary discussion at the university. The society is indep ...

and

Glasgow University Union Glasgow University Union (GUU) is one of the largest and oldest students' unions in the UK, serving students and alumni of the University of Glasgow since 1885. The GUU organises social affairs for its members, provides catering and entertainm ...

; he befriended

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 ...

and John Smith through his involvement in the societies. Irvine subsequently studied

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

Legal career

After teaching law at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, Irvine was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1967 and joined chambers headed by

Morris Finer Sir Morris Finer (12 December 1917 – 14 December 1974) was a British lawyer and judge. Early life Finer was born in Bethnal Green in London, the son of Charles Finer, a master tailor, and his wife Ray (née Topper). He was educated at Kilbu ...

. He was appointed a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1978 and founded 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers in 1981, becoming head of chambers. Irvine's pupil barristers included

and

Cherie Booth Cherie, Lady Blair (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is the spouse of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth was born ...

. In the 1980s, he became a

and later a Deputy High Court Judge.

Political career

At the 1970 general election, Irvine unsuccessfully contested Hendon North as the Labour Party candidate. A legal adviser to the Party through the 1980s, he was awarded 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 ...

age as Baron Irvine of Lairg, of

Lairg Lairg (, meaning "the shank/shin") is a village and parish in Sutherland, Scotland. It has a population of 891 and is at the south-eastern end of Loch Shin. Lairg is unusual in the northern Highlands in being a large settlement that is not on ...

in the District of

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

, on 25 March 1987. Irvine served as

from 1992 to 1997 under Labour leaders John Smith,

Margaret Beckett Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett, (; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then from 1983 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was ...

, and

. After Labour's election victory in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, Blair appointed him as

. During Irvine's tenure as Lord Chancellor, he oversaw the incorporation of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

into UK law. In 2001, Irvine gained further responsibility for constitutional issues including human rights and freedom of information. He notably chose not to wear the officeholder's traditional attire during most of his tenure in the role. Irvine was the last Lord Chancellor to give judgments at the

Appellate Committee of the House of Lords In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying an ...

, giving a brief concurring judgment in ''AIB Group (UK) Ltd v Martin'' 001UKHL 63. He also gave the last reasoned judgment to be given by a Lord Chancellor, in ''Uratemp Ventures Ltd v Collins'' 001UKHL 43. Blair dismissed Irvine from the

in June 2003, when he announced his intention to abolish the position of Lord Chancellor. However, the role was not abolished, but was used as a secondary title for the Justice Secretary from 2005.

Controversies

Irvine was criticised for spending £650,000 of public money to redecorate the Lord Chancellor's residence in 1998. The cost included £59,000 in hand-printed wallpaper, and contractors had to sign the

Official Secrets Act An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of Classified information, state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security. However, in its unrevised form (based on the UK Official Secret ...

to prevent expenditure leaks. Although renovation responsibility was with the Lords authorities, Irvine defended the cost by stating that the materials would last longer than cheaper products. He was awarded a pay rise of £22,691 in 2003, as a result of a formula designed to keep his salary ahead that of the

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

. However, he accepted a lower increase following public backlash to the decision.

Personal life

Irvine was married to Alison McNair, with whom he had a son, Alistair, and later divorced. He began his relationship with McNair during her marriage to

. Alistair was sentenced to 16 months in jail in the US, after pleading guilty to stalking and vandalism in 2002.

Arms

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine of Lairg, 1940 births Living people Politicians from Inverness Nobility from Highland (council area) Academics of the London School of Economics Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Glasgow British King's Counsel Labour Party (UK) life peers Lord chancellors of Great Britain Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School Scottish lawyers Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics Life peers created by Elizabeth II New Labour