Wikipedia

Kenny MacAskill

Kenneth Wright MacAskill(born 28 April 1958) is a Scottish politician who wasMember of Parliament(MP) forEast Lothianfrom2019to2024.He previously served asCabinet Secretary for Justicefrom 2007 to 2014 and was aMember of the Scottish Parliament(MSP) from1999to2016.A former member of theScottish National Party(SNP), he defected to theAlba Partyin 2021 and currently serves as the party's acting leader, following former leaderAlex Salmond's death in October 2024.

Kenny MacAskill
Official portrait, 2011
Leader of the Alba Party
Incumbent
Acting since
12 October 2024
Preceded byAlex Salmond
Depute Leader of the Alba Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 September 2021
LeaderAlex Salmond
Himself(acting)
Preceded byOffice established
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
In office
17 May 2007 – 21 November 2014
First MinisterAlex Salmond
Preceded byCathy Jamieson
Succeeded byMichael Matheson
Member of Parliament
forEast Lothian
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byMartin Whitfield
Succeeded byDouglas Alexander
Member of the Scottish Parliament
forEdinburgh Eastern
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh(2007–2011)
In office
3 May 2007 – 24 March 2016
Preceded bySusan Deacon
Succeeded byAsh Denham
Member of the Scottish Parliament
forLothians
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
In office
6 May 1999 – 3 May 2007
Personal details
Born(1958-04-28)28 April 1958(age 66)
Edinburgh,Scotland
Political partyAlba[1]
Other political
affiliations		SNP(1978–2021)
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
ProfessionSolicitor
Websitekennymacaskillmp.scot

Born inEdinburghand educated atLinlithgow Academy,MacAskill studied law at theUniversity of Edinburghand was a senior partner in a law firm inGlasgow.He was a long-standing member of the SNP's National Executive Committee and served as treasurer and vice convener of policy, before being elected at the1999 Scottish Parliament election.He was convener of theScottish ParliamentSubordinate Legislation Committee from 1999 to 2001.

Following the SNP's victory in2007,MacAskill was appointed asCabinet Secretary for Justicein theScottish Government.In this role, he oversaw the controversial transfer of convicted terroristAbdelbaset al-Megrahito his nativeLibya.MacAskill left office in November 2014 in the Cabinet reshuffle which followed the appointment ofNicola SturgeonasFirst Minister of Scotlandand stood down from the Scottish Parliament at the2016 election.

After standing down from the Scottish Parliament, MacAskill waselected to the House of Commonsas MP forEast Lothianat the2019 general election,gaining the previously Labour-held seat fromMartin Whitfield.In March 2021, MacAskill defected from the SNP to the Alba Party. At the2021 Scottish Parliament election,he stood on the Alba Party'sLothianregional list but neither he nor his party succeeded in gaining a seat.

At the2024 general electionMacAskill stood in theAlloa and Grangemouth seat.He received 1.5% of the vote share with 638 votes.

Background, early life and career

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MacAskill was born inEdinburghand was educated atLinlithgow Academybefore studying law at theUniversity of Edinburgh,gaining an LLB (Hons) degree.[2]After completing his training at a firm in Glasgow, he set up Erskine MacAskill.

He came to prominence inside the SNP through his activities in theleft-wing79 Groupand became a party office bearer. In the 1980s he led the "Can't Pay, Won't Pay" campaign in opposition to thePoll Tax.It was widely known that he often disagreed politically withAlex Salmond,leader of the SNP through the 1990s, and he was at one stage viewed as belonging to theSNP Fundamentalistcamp, being perceived to be allied to figures such asJim SillarsandAlex Neilwithin the party.

Member of the Scottish Parliament (1999–2016)

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After MacAskill became an MSP in 1999 upon the establishment of theScottish Parliamentas a regional list member for theLothianshe moderated his political position, seeing the development of the Scottish Parliament as the most achievable route for Scotland to become an independent nation state. In this respect he was regarded as having adopted agradualistapproach toScottish independencein place of his previous fundamentalist position. He was one of former SNP leaderJohn Swinney's closest supporters.

In 1999 MacAskill was detained inLondonbefore theEuro 2000second leg play-off match between Scotland and England on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.[3]As he was not charged with any crime the incident did not affect his position within the SNP and he won re-election at the2003 election.

In 2004, afterJohn Swinneystood down as SNP party leader, Kenny MacAskill backed the joint leadership ticket of Alex Salmond andNicola Sturgeon.He had initially intended to stand for deputy leader himself on a joint ticket with Nicola Sturgeon, who would have sought the leadership. He gave way when Salmond reconsidered his earlier decision not to seek re-election to the leadership. Upon their election as leader and deputy leader respectively, MacAskill was selected to be Deputy Leader of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament. He served in the SNPShadow CabinetasShadow Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learningfrom 2001 to 2003,Shadow Minister for Transport and Telecommunicationsfrom 2003 to 2004 andShadow Minister for Justicefrom 2004 to 2007.

MacAskill authored a book,Building a Nation – Post Devolution Nationalism in Scotland,which was launched at the SNP's 2004 annual conference in Inverness. He has since edited another bookAgenda for a New Scotland – Visions of Scotland 2020,and has co-authoredGlobal Scots – Voices From Afarwith former First MinisterHenry McLeish.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice (2007–2014)

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For the2007 Scottish Parliament election,MacAskill was top of the SNP's party list for the Lothians region. He stood in theEdinburgh East and Musselburghconstituency, winning that seat fromScottish Labourwith a 13.3% swing to give a majority of 1,382. This was the first time the SNP had ever won a parliamentary seat in Edinburgh. After the SNP's victory at the2007 Scottish Parliament election,MacAskill became theCabinet Secretary for Justice.

One of MacAskill's first acts as a cabinet secretary was to lift the ban on alcohol sales at internationalrugby uniongames held atMurrayfield Stadium.[4]

MacAskill also said that the2007 terror attack on Glasgow Airportwas not committed by 'home-grown' terrorists, in that the suspects were not "born or bred" in Scotland but had merely lived in the country for a "period of time".[5]

MacAskill won election to a redrawn constituency ofEdinburgh Easternin the2011 Scottish Parliament election.[6]Despite notionally facing a deficit of 550 votes,[7]MacAskill won by over 2,000 votes.[6]

Pan Am Flight 103

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Main article:Release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi

On 19 August 2009, MacAskill rejected an application by Libya to transfer to their custodyAbdelbaset al-Megrahi,convicted of thePan Am Flight 103bomb that killed 270 people, acknowledging that "the American families and Government had an expectation or were led to believe that there would be no prisoner transfer."[8]The following day, on 20 August, MacAskill authorised al-Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds. Megrahi had served 8½ years of a life sentence, but had developed terminalprostate cancer.[9][10]The Justice Secretary has discretionary authority to order such a release, and MacAskill took sole responsibility for the decision.[11][12]Megrahi died on 20 May 2012.

In the United States, where 180 of the 270 victims came from, the decision met with broad hostility. Political figures including PresidentBarack ObamaandSecretary of StateHillary Clintonspoke out against it,[13][14]and families of the victims expressed indignation over the decision.[15][16][17][18]FBIdirectorRobert Mueller,who had been a lead investigator in the 1988 bombing, wrote a highly critical open letter to MacAskill.[19]Former Labour First MinisterHenry McLeishwas critical of Mueller's attack on the decision.[20]

In Britain, reaction was divided. Scottish Labour leaderIain Gray,former First MinisterJack McConnell,and former Scottish Office ministerBrian Wilsoncriticised the decision,[21][22][23][24][25]while ScottishFirst MinisterAlex Salmond,former Labour MPTam Dalyelland former British ambassador to LibyaRichard Daltonpublicly supported it.[26][27]Ian Galloway andMario Conti,representatives of theChurch of Scotlandand the Roman Catholic Church respectively, also spoke in favour of the release.[28]

John Mosey, a priest who lost a daughter on Pan Am Flight 103, expressed his disappointment that halting Megrahi's appeal before it went to court meant that the public would never hear "this important evidence — the six separate grounds for appeal that theSCCRCfelt were important enough to put forward, that could show that there's been a miscarriage of justice. "[29]Saif al-Islam Gaddafireiterated his belief in Megrahi's innocence commenting that the Justice Secretary had "made the right decision" and that history would prove this to be the case.[30]A letter in support of MacAskill's decision was sent to the Scottish Government on behalf of former South African PresidentNelson Mandela.[31]

TheScottish Parliamentwas recalled from its summer break, for the third time since its creation, to receive a statement from and question MacAskill.[32]The opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament passed amendments criticising the decision and the way it was made, but no motions of confidence in MacAskill or the Scottish Government were tabled.[33]

After MacAskill won re-election to the Scottish Parliament in2011,an SNP supporter said that the decision had been mentioned by very few voters during the election campaign.[34]

Member of Parliament (2019–2024)

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MacAskill was chosen as the SNP candidate forEast Lothianat the2019 UK general election.[35]He was subsequently elected, overturning a 3,083 majority and defeating Labour'sMartin Whitfield.[36]

In April 2020, MacAskill called for the office ofLord Advocateto be split – similarly to the English and Welsh system ofAttorney General for England and WalesandDirector of Public Prosecutions– in a response to the trial of formerFirst Minister of ScotlandAlex Salmond,to avoid potential conflicts of interest.[37]

In February 2020, MacAskill authoredRadical Scotland – Uncovering Scotland's radical history – from the French Revolutionary era to the 1820 Rising,published byBiteback.

Following the launch of theAlba Partyin March 2021, in advance of the2021 Scottish Parliament election,MacAskill announced that he was leaving the SNP to join Alba, making him their first sitting representative. He was reported as planning to stand for election to Holyrood in a regional list seat.[1]The SNP called on him to resign and trigger a by-election, describing his defection as "somewhat of a relief".[38]In the2021 Scottish Parliament election,he stood on Alba'sLothian regional listbut neither he nor his party succeeded in gaining any seats.[39]Later that year, at the party's inaugural conference, he was elected as depute leader.[40]

On 13 July 2022, SpeakerLindsay Hoyleejected MacAskill and his Alba colleagueNeale Hanvey(Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath) from theHouse of Commonsfor disrupting the start ofPrime Minister's Questions.The two had been protesting about the refusal to grant consent for a second referendum on Scottish independence.[41]As both Members were named by the Speaker, by convention MacAskill and Hanvey were handed five-day suspensions from the House of Commons.

At the2024 general election,MacAskill switched constituencies to instead stand for the newAlloa and Grangemouth seat,which was won byBrian Leishmanof theLabour Party,amidst a large swing towards Labour across Scotland. MacAskill received 638 votes, 1.5% of the votes cast.[42]

Post-parliamentary career (2024–)

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Following Alex Salmond's death on 12 October 2024, MacAskill became acting leader of the Alba Party.[43][44]Under the provisions of the party constitution, the depute leader of the party becomes its acting leader whenever the leadership becomes vacant.[45]

Personal life

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MacAskill lives inMoray,where he has a house, and he also maintains a flat inEast Lothian.[46]He has two sons.[2]

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ab"MP Kenny MacAskill quits SNP to join Alex Salmond's Alba Party".The National.27 March 2021.Retrieved27 March2021.
  2. ^ab"Macaskill, Kenneth Wright, (born 28 April 1958), solicitor; MP (SNP) East Lothian, since 2019".WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO.doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u25288.ISBN978-0-19-954088-4.Retrieved1 May2021.
  3. ^"Arrest incident 'closed', insists SNP".BBC News.BBC.25 November 1999.
  4. ^Stewart, Lewis (9 June 2007)."Murrayfield toasts lifting of drinks ban".The Times.
  5. ^"Terrorists not 'home-grown'".BBC News.BBC. 1 July 2007.
  6. ^ab"Scottish election: SNP changes Edinburgh political map".BBC News. 6 May 2011.Retrieved7 May2011.
  7. ^Dinwoodie, Robbie (30 March 2011)."Key Holyrood election battles".The Herald.Retrieved7 May2011.
  8. ^UK Cabinet Office,Cabinet Secretary's Review of Papers Relating to the Release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi11 ¶ 31 (7 February 2011)available atcabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/20110207-megrahi-review-report.pdf
  9. ^[1][dead link‍]
  10. ^"Cancer expert says Megrahi is not responding to treatment".The Herald.20 August 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2009.
  11. ^"Transcript: Scotland official talks of Lockerbie release".Cable News Network. 20 August 2009.Retrieved25 August2009.
  12. ^"Lockerbie bomber debate – as it happened".Scotsman.24 August 2009.Retrieved25 August2009.
  13. ^Adam, Karla (21 August 2009)."Man Convicted in Lockerbie Bombing Is Released From Scottish Prison".The Washington Post.Retrieved7 May2010.
  14. ^Carrell, Severin (21 August 2009)."Barack Obama attacks decision to free Lockerbie bomber".The Guardian.London.Retrieved7 May2010.
  15. ^"Terminally ill Lockerbie bomber lands in Libya - CNN".cnn.
  16. ^Nasaw, Daniel (20 August 2009)."White House condemns decision to release Lockerbie bomber".The Guardian.
  17. ^"Lockerbie bomber: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi leaves Scotland bound for Libya".20 August 2009.
  18. ^Carrell, Severin; correspondent, Scotland (20 August 2009)."Barack Obama attacks decision to free Lockerbie bomber".The Guardian.{{cite news}}:|last2=has generic name (help)
  19. ^"The full letter from the FBI Director on the Lockerbie bomber release".The Daily Telegraph.London. 22 August 2009.Retrieved7 May2010.
  20. ^"FBI chief's attack 'out of order'".BBC News. 24 August 2009.
  21. ^"The Lockerbie decision 'was wrong'".Public Servant Scotland.20 August 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2009.Retrieved5 June2010.
  22. ^Swaine, Jon; Cramb, Auslan (23 August 2009)."Kenny MacAskill to face furious MSPs over Lockerbie bomber release".
  23. ^Hinsliff, Gaby (22 August 2009)."Gordon Brown in new storm over freed Lockerbie bomber".The Observer– via The Guardian.
  24. ^Wilson, Brian (21 August 2009)."Lockerbie bomber: The SNP's Libya stunt has shamed my nation".The Daily Telegraph.London.Retrieved24 August2009.
  25. ^Carrell, Severin; correspondent, Scotland (28 August 2009)."Efforts to release Lockerbie bomber linked with trade, says Gaddafi's son".The Guardian.{{cite news}}:|last2=has generic name (help)
  26. ^"Alex Salmond defends release of Lockerbie bomber".The Daily Telegraph.London. 23 August 2009.Retrieved7 May2010.
  27. ^"Reaction: Lockerbie bomber set free".BBC News.
  28. ^FBI chief's attack 'out of order' – Conti,BBC News,24 August 2009.
  29. ^Mackey, Robert (21 August 2009)."Lockerbie, the Unanswered Questions".New York Times.News Blog.
  30. ^Carrell, Severin (28 August 2009)."Efforts to release Lockerbie bomber linked with trade, says Gaddafi's son".The Guardian.London.Retrieved7 May2010.
  31. ^"Mandela backs Lockerbie decision".BBC.30 August 2009.
  32. ^"Holyrood recall over freed bomber".BBC News. 20 August 2009.
  33. ^SNP defeated over bomber release,BBC News,2 September 2009.
  34. ^Hannan, Martin (6 May 2011)."Martin Hannan: The battle for independence starts now".Edinburgh Evening News.Archived fromthe originalon 10 May 2011.Retrieved7 May2011.
  35. ^Ian, Swanson (16 October 2019)."Kenny MacAskill chosen as SNP candidate for East Lothian at general election".Edinburgh Evening News.Retrieved22 November2019.
  36. ^"East Lothian: Scottish National Party gain".BBC News.13 December 2019.Retrieved13 December2019.
  37. ^"Kenny MacAskill calls for office of Lord Advocate to be divided".Scottish Legal News.30 April 2020.Retrieved18 May2020.
  38. ^Busby, Mattha (27 March 2021)."Kenny MacAskill quits SNP to join Alex Salmond's Alba party".The Guardian.Retrieved27 March2021.
  39. ^"Lothian".BBC News.Retrieved8 May2021.
  40. ^Webster, Laura (11 September 2021)."Alba conference: Kenny MacAskill elected Alba party's depute leader".The National.
  41. ^"Alba MPs thrown out of PMQs over indyref2 protest".BBC News.13 July 2022.
  42. ^"Alloa and Grangemouth – General election results 2024".BBC News.Retrieved5 July2024.
  43. ^"Alba Party will continue Alex Salmond's legacy, says acting leader".PA News Agency.14 October 2024.Retrieved14 October2024– via The Herald.
  44. ^Grant, Alistair (14 October 2024)."Kenny MacAskill: I hope Alex Salmond's legal battle with Scottish Government will continue".The Scotsman.Retrieved14 October2024.
  45. ^"Alba Party Constitution".Alba Party. 2021. p. 50.
  46. ^Marlborough, Conor (27 January 2021)."Kenny MacAskill: SNP MP defends 200-mile trips between constituency and second home".The Scotsman.Retrieved29 January2021.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of ParliamentforEast Lothian
2019–2024 		Succeeded by
Scottish Parliament
New constituency Member of the Scottish ParliamentforEdinburgh Eastern
2011–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Scottish ParliamentforEdinburgh East and Musselburgh
2007–2011 		Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Cabinet Secretary for Justice
2007–2014 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Scottish National PartyVice Chairman (Local Government)
1985–1989? 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Treasurer of theScottish National Party
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