Michael Russell (politician)
Michael William Russell is a Scottish National Party politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations since 26 June 2018 and Member of the Scottish Parliament for Argyll and Bute. He is a professor of culture and governance at the University of Glasgow. He has previously worked as a television producer and director and the author of seven books.
He was Chief Executive of the SNP from 1994 to 1999 and was elected to the Scottish Parliament as a regional MSP for the South of Scotland at the first Scottish Parliament elections in 1999. However, he lost his seat in the 2003 Scottish Parliament Election. He was elected again in May 2007 and was appointed Minister for Environment in Scotland's first-ever SNP administration by First Minister Alex Salmond. He was then reshuffled on 10 February 2009 to become Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution, and was later promoted on 1 December 2009 replacing Fiona Hyslop as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning until November 2014. Russell served as Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland's Place in Europe from August 2016 to June 2018.
Background
Russell was born in Bromley, Kent to an English mother and a Scottish father.He was educated at Marr College, Troon and Edinburgh University, there studying firstly Theology and then Scottish History and Literature. He worked in television and the media prior to establishing his own media company, Eala Bhan Ltd.
Russell is a fluent speaker of Gaelic and gave a speech in the language which was the first occasion the European Council was addressed in Gaelic.
Political career
Russell was Chief Executive of the SNP in the period prior to the first Scottish election and has been an active member of the SNP for over three decades, often working closely with party leader, Alex Salmond.Originally a member of the Labour club at Edinburgh University, Russell joined the SNP in 1974 during the February election of that year, was active in Edinburgh, in the Western Isles and in the Inverness constituency and stood for the first time for as an SNP candidate in 1984 in Clydesdale in a local government election. He was then the Clydesdale candidate for the Westminster Parliament in June 1987. Later that year he became the elected Vice Convenor of the SNP responsible for Publicity and in 1990 was Salmond's campaign manager during the SNP leadership campaign.
During that time he worked as Executive Director of Network Scotland, a media and educational company, but he gave up his party posts in 1991 to concentrate on establishing his own TV production company, Eala Bhan Ltd. He returned to active politics in December 1994 when he became the SNP's first full-time Chief Executive. In that role, he was the party's election director for the 1997 and 1999 campaigns as well as for the successful Perth and Kinross by-election in 1995.
Scottish Parliament
He was placed second by the party on the South of Scotland list for the 1999 Scottish Parliament elections and after his election was appointed SNP Business Manager in the new Parliament which resulted in him becoming a founding member of the Parliamentary Bureau. After John Swinney was elected leader of the SNP in 2000, Russell became Shadow Minister for Education and Culture, a post he held until 2003. He was named as "Debater of the Year" in the Herald Awards in 2000, and was nominated for "Scottish Politician of the Year" in the same awards in 2002 as well as for the Channel 4 "Scottish Politician of the Year" title.When he lost his seat at the end of the first Scottish Parliament, Russell focused on his work as an author and newspaper columnist, commenting on various aspects of Scottish culture and Scottish politics. He did, however, stand for the leadership of the SNP in 2004, in the election prompted by John Swinney's resignation. He finished third behind Alex Salmond and Roseanna Cunningham. Russell continued as a political commentator, generating some controversy with his strongly pro-modernisation views which were more fully expressed in a book co-written with entrepreneur Dennis MacLeod called Grasping The Thistle.
Many SNP members saw Russell's absence from the Scottish Parliament as a great loss to the SNP's profile and performance there. In 2006 he was once again placed second on the SNP regional list in the South of Scotland though this time the list was chosen by a one member, one vote system for which Russell had argued over a long period and was re-elected to Parliament in 2007. He was also the party's candidate in the Dumfries constituency.
Following the SNP's narrow victory at the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election, Russell was appointed the Minister for Environment.
In the first reshuffle of the SNP Government in February 2009, Russell was moved to be Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution.
In December 2009 Russell was promoted to the Scottish Cabinet as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning following the repositioning of Fiona Hyslop to Culture, Tourism and External Affairs.
Russell left the Scottish Cabinet in November 2014, when Nicola Sturgeon took over as First Minister. On 25 August 2016 he was appointed as the Scottish government's new minister with responsibility for Brexit negotiations with the UK government.
Campaigner
For many years, Russell has campaigned for justice on behalf of former police detective, Shirley McKie, who was awarded £750,000 compensation by the Scottish Executive in a February 2006 out-of-court settlement. The Justice 1 committee of the Scottish Parliament conducted a nine-month inquiry into the McKie case in 2006, and its report was published on 15 February 2007. In April 2007, Michael Russell and Shirley's father, Iain McKie, published a book on what they described as the worst miscarriage of justice in a generation: Shirley McKie – The Price of Innocence. Shirley McKie's case assumed an international significance with a possible linkage to the case of convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was granted leave to appeal against his conviction for a second time by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission on 28 June 2007. Megrahi's appeal began in Edinburgh on 28 April 2009, and a public inquiry into the McKie case started in Glasgow on 2 June 2009.Russell supported the successful campaign to have The Tinkers' Heart in Argyll listed as a Scheduled Monument, with listing taking place in 2015.