Michael Russell (politician)

Michael Russell

Michael Russell (born August 9, 1953 in Bromley ) is a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party (SNP). Over the years Russell also published several non-fiction books as well as a literary work.

Political career

Russell attended Marr College at Troon and then went to Edinburgh University , where he graduated with a Masters in Scottish History and Literature. He then worked in the media sector. He joined the SNP in 1974 and has held various positions over the years. He was instrumental in the election of Alex Salmond as party leader in 1990 and between 1994 and 1999 campaign manager of the SNP, who coordinated both the campaigns for the 1997 general election and the new elections in the constituencies of Perth and Paisley South .

Election results

For the first time Russell appeared in the British general election in 1987 to national elections. In his constituency of Clydesdale , however, he only received around 14.8% of the vote and thus the fourth-highest percentage of votes and missed the entry into the British House of Commons . In the Scottish parliamentary elections in 1999 Russell ran for the direct mandate of the constituency of Cunninghame South , but was clearly defeated by the Labor candidate Irene Oldfather . But since he was placed on the regional electoral list of the electoral region South of Scotland in second place, Russell received as a result of the election result one of seven list mandates of the electoral region and moved into the Scottish Parliament . In the SNP's shadow cabinet , Russell served as Secretary of State for Children and Education between 2000 and 2003. He was also the party spokesman for radio and Gaelic . In the parliamentary elections in 2003 he was again unable to win the direct mandate of Cunninghame South. Since Russell was only put in fourth place on the regional electoral list for these elections, he received no mandate and thus resigned from parliament. In 2004 Russell stood for election to the party chairmanship and received the third-highest share of the vote after Alex Salmond (75.6%) and Roseanna Cunningham (14.6%) with 9.7% of the vote.

In the 2007 general election , Russell ran in the constituency of Dumfries , but received only the third highest number of votes. Nevertheless, he won a seat in Parliament again, this time for the electoral region of South of Scotland . Following the election, he was appointed State Secretary for the Environment and held this position until 2009 when he was appointed State Secretary for Culture, Foreign Affairs and the Constitution. As of late 2009, Russell was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Lifelong Learning. In the 2011 parliamentary elections , he applied for the direct mandate of the constituency of Argyll and Bute , replacing his party colleague Jim Mather , who no longer ran for these elections. For the first time Russell succeeded in winning the direct mandate of a constituency. He kept his ministerial post unchanged until the end of 2014, when Angela Constance was appointed as his successor .

Works

• (Ed.): Glasgow - The Book , 1990
• (Ed.): Edinburgh - A Celebration , 1992, ISBN 978-1-85158-517-5
• A Poem of Remote Lives: Images of Eriskay, 1934 - Enigma of Werner Kissling, 1895-1988 , 1997, ISBN 978-1-89778-446-4
• In Waiting: Travels in the Shadow of Edwin Muir , 1998, ISBN 978-1-89778-463-1
• A Different Country: Photographs by Werner Kissling , 2002, ISBN 978-1-84158-245-0
• (Ed.), Winnie Ewing : Stop the World - The Autobiography of Winnie Ewing , 2004, ISBN 978-1-84158-239-9
• (with D. McLeod): Grasping the Thistle: How Scotland Must React to the Three Key Challenges of the Twenty First Century , 2006, ISBN 978-1-90283-186-2
• The Next Big Thing: A Fable of Modern Scotland , 2007, ISBN 978-1-90597-400-9
• (with I. McKie): Shirley McKie: The Price of Innocence , 2007, ISBN 978-1-84158-575-8

Web links

• Information on the Scottish Parliament website
• Information from the SNP
• Profile of the BBC

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information from the Scottish Parliament ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Information from the Scottish Government
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Information from the BBC
4. ↑ ^{a b} Entry on alba.org.uk ( Memento from September 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Results of the 1974 general election ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Results of the general election 1999 on the Scottish Parliament website
7. ↑ Results of the general election 1999 on the Scottish Parliament website
8. ^ Results of the general election 2003 on the Scottish Parliament website
9. ^ Results of the general election 2003 on the Scottish Parliament website
10. ↑ Results of the 2007 general election on the Scottish Parliament website
11. ↑ Results of the 2007 general election on the Scottish Parliament website
12. ^ The Scotsman: Former SNP bright lights say no to Holyrood comeback
13. ↑ Results of the 2011 general election on the Scottish Parliament website