Russell Leslie Brown (born 17 September 1951) is a
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. He is a former
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...
(1997–2005) and
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...
(2005–2015). He lost his seat at the
2015 general election to
Richard Arkless of 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, ...
.
[
*]
Early years
Russell Brown was born in
Annan,
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 ...
, and attended the local
Annan Academy. In 1974 he began work as a plant operative at
ICI and remained with the company until his election to
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
.
Political history
He was elected as a branch chairman within the
Transport and General Workers Union
The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900,000 members (a ...
1979–1985. In 1986, Brown was elected as a councillor to the
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...
Regional Council, and was the Labour Group Leader 1995–97. Between 1988 and 1996 he also served as a councillor on the
Annandale and Eskdale District Council.
He was selected to contest the seemingly safe
Conservative and Unionist
The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...
seat of
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
at the
1997 UK General Election. The MP of 33 years,
Hector Monro retired and the Conservative and Unionist candidate was
Struan Stevenson. The Conservative Party were completely wiped out in Scotland in 1997, and he was elected as the Labour MP for Dumfries with a majority of 9,643 votes. He made his
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
in the House of Commons on Monday 7 July 1997.
Russell Brown became a Member of the
Scottish Affairs Select committee in 1999, and left the committee after the
2001 general election. He was made a
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the
Leader of the House of Lords
The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the governing party in the House of Lords who acts ...
,
Gareth Wyn Williams of Mostyn in 2002. When Williams died in 2003, he continued in the same position with his successor
Valerie Amos. Brown resigned from the government in 2003 in protest at the
proposed military intervention in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, stepping down from his position as parliamentary aide to
Lord Williams of Mostyn, leader of 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 ...
. Brown subsequently "voted against saying that the case for war against Iraq has not yet been established" and was absent for the vote to declare war.
In the major redistribution of
Scottish seats, his constituency of Dumfries was abolished and the new seat of Dumfries and Galloway was created. At the
2005 general election he faced the sitting Conservative MP for
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale Peter Duncan. Brown defeated Duncan, and was elected with a majority of 2,922 votes. Following the general election, he became the PPS to the
Secretary of State for Scotland
The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...
Alistair Darling
Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...
and his successor
Jim Murphy.
At the
2010 general election Russell Brown was again challenged by Peter Duncan, the Conservative MP he defeated five years previously; who is now a councillor on Dumfries and Galloway Council. Despite Labour losing the election nationally, Russell Brown's popularity locally meant he almost tripled his majority to 7,449 votes. In October 2010, Russell Brown was appointed to Labour's front bench as a Shadow Defence Minister. His brief was Shadow
Minister for International Security Strategy. He was also a member of the
Public Bill Committee for the
Defence Reform Act.
Brown lost his seat at the
2015 general election, finishing in third place with 13,982 votes behind 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 ...
' Finlay Carson with 16,926 votes and the winner:
SNP's
Richard Arkless with 23,440 votes.
Personal life
He married Christine Margaret Calvert in 1973 and they have two daughters together. He speaks French and German. Brown is a supporter of
Queen of the South. He has appeared on television speaking about the club, and tabled an
early day motion
In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate.
Hi ...
in the House of Commons congratulating them on their reaching the semi-final of the
2008 Scottish Cup. As of 2023, Brown was the vice-chairman of his hometown football club
Annan Athletic.
References
External links
Russell Brownofficial site
*
*
ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/russell_brown/dumfries_and_galloway TheyWorkForYou.com – Russell Brown MPbr>
Russell Brown's voting record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Russell
1951 births
Living people
Scottish Labour councillors
Scottish republicans
Scottish Labour MPs
Scottish trade unionists
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
People from Annan, Dumfries and Galloway
People educated at Annan Academy