Des Browne

The Right Honourable The Lord Browne of Ladyton PC
Official portrait, 2022
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 28 June 2007 – 3 October 2008
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Douglas Alexander
Succeeded by	Jim Murphy
Secretary of State for Defence
In office 5 May 2006 – 3 October 2008
Prime Minister	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Preceded by	John Reid
Succeeded by	John Hutton
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office 6 May 2005 – 5 May 2006
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Paul Boateng
Succeeded by	Stephen Timms
Junior ministerial offices Minister of State for Immigration, Citizenship and Counterterrorism In office 1 April 2004 – 6 May 2005 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Beverley Hughes Succeeded by Tony McNulty Minister of State for Work In office 13 June 2003 – 1 April 2004 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Nick Brown Succeeded by Jane Kennedy Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland In office 11 June 2001 – 13 June 2003 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by George Howarth Succeeded by John Spellar
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Life peerage 22 July 2010 Member of Parliament forKilmarnock and Loudoun In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 Preceded by William McKelvey Succeeded by Cathy Jamieson
Personal details
Born	(1952-03-22)22 March 1952 Stevenston,Scotland,United Kingdom
Political party	Scottish Labour
Alma mater	University of Glasgow

Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton,PC(born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in theCabinet of the United KingdomunderTony BlairandGordon BrownasSecretary of State for Defence2006 to 2008 andSecretary of State for Scotlandfrom 2007 to 2008. A member of theLabour Party,he wasMember of Parliament(MP) forKilmarnock and Loudounfrom1997to2010.

Early life and education

Browne was born in Boglemart, Stevenston,North Ayrshire,lived inStevenstonfor the early part of his life, and was educated at the Catholic St Michael's Academy inKilwinningand later at theUniversity of Glasgow,where he received adegreeinlaw.

Legal career

He started his legal career in 1974 as an apprenticesolicitorwith the firm James Campbell & Co. On qualifying in 1976 he became an assistant solicitor with Ross, Harper and Murphy, and was promoted to partner in 1980. He became a partner in McCluskey Browne in 1985, and was a council member of theLaw Society of Scotlandfrom 1988 to 1992. He was admitted as anadvocatein 1993, practising at the Scottish bar until 1997. He worked mainly in child law.

Parliamentary career

Browne contested theparliamentaryseat ofArgyll and Buteat the1992 general election,and finished in fourth place behind the sittingLiberal DemocratMPRay Michie.He was elected to theFaculty of Advocatesin 1993. Browne was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Kilmarnock and Loudoun following the retirement of the sitting MPWilliam McKelvey.Browne won the seat at the1997 general electionwith a majority of 7,256. He made hismaiden speechon 20 June 1997.

Browne joined theNorthern Ireland Affairs Select Committeeon his election, and became theParliamentary Private Secretary(PPS) to theSecretary of State for ScotlandDonald Dewarin 1998. After Dewar left the Cabinet in 1999, to seek election as theFirst Minister of Scotland,Browne remained in post as PPS to the new Secretary of StateJohn Reid.In 2000 he became the PPS to theMinister of Stateat theNorthern Ireland Office.

On 27 November 2009, Browne announced his intention not to seek election in the2010 general election.

Government minister

Browne meetingRobert Gatesin Edinburgh during December 2007

After the2001 general electionBrowne enteredTony Blair's government as theParliamentary Under Secretary of Stateat theNorthern Ireland Office.He was promoted toMinister of State for Workin 2003, before moving to theHome Officein 2004 as the minister with responsibility forimmigration.He joined the Cabinet following the2005 general electionas theChief Secretary to the Treasury,and became amember of the Privy Council.

Browne was appointedSecretary of State for Defenceon 5 May 2006. An advocate of theUK Trident programme,in 2007 he successfully persuaded Parliament to vote to replace Trident. He came under criticism, however, after allowing theRoyal Navy personnel captured by Iran in spring 2007to sell and publish their stories.Under Blair's premiership, Browne was considered a supporter of theChancellor of the ExchequerGordon Brown.He received the additional responsibilities ofSecretary of State for Scotlandin June 2007 after Brown became prime minister.

In a free parliamentary vote on 20 May 2008, Browne voted for cutting the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 12 weeks, along with two other Catholic cabinet ministers,Ruth KellyandPaul Murphy.He returned to the backbenches in October 2008 following a cabinet reshuffle.

Brownegave evidenceto theIraq Inquiryon 25 January 2010.

He was created alife peeron 22 July 2010, taking the titleBaron Browne of Ladyton,of Ladyton inAyrshireandArran.

He is a Fellow Commoner ofSt Catharine's College, Cambridge.

Activities after leaving government

Browne is vice chairman of the Washington, DC-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit, nonpartisan organisation founded in 2001 by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, who serves as co-chair and CEO, andCNNfounder and philanthropistTed Turner.NTI's mission is to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Browne is convener of the European Leadership Network for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation.and he is also convenor of theTop Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation,established in October 2009.

He is a signatory ofGlobal Zero,a non-profit international initiative for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide.

Controversy over appointment as envoy to Sri Lanka

In February 2009, Browne was appointed by PM Brown as the government'sspecial envoytoSri Lanka.However, the government ofMahinda Rajapaksa,fighting theLTTErebel group, rejected Browne's appointment, stating that the British government made the appointment unilaterally, without consultation with the Sri Lankan government.

External links

• Des Browne MP websiteArchived22 June 2009 at theWayback Machine
• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Des Browne
• Ministry of Defence official biography
• Speech on Iraq November 2006Archived9 December 2006 at theWayback Machine
• Speech on Afghanistan September 2006Archived9 December 2006 at theWayback Machine
• Speech on the UK's Nuclear Deterrent January 2007Archived14 February 2007 at theWayback Machine
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Des Browne MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Des Browne MP
• Des Browne's articlein theDaily Record,covering President Obama's Inauguration 20 January 2009
• Global Zero
• Des Browne at Global Zero