Keith Brown (politician)
history| birth_place = Edinburgh | death_date = | death_place = | birthname = | nationality = | party = Scottish National Party | spouse = | relations = | children = | residence = | alma_mater = University of Dundee | occupation = | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | religion = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} Keith Brown (born 20 December 1961) is a Scottish politician. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent the Ochil constituency at the 2007 election.
Early career
Born in Edinburgh, Brown attended Tynecastle High School in the city, before joining the Marines and serving in the Falklands War. Upon leaving the Marines he attended the University of Dundee where he joined the SNP, graduating in Politics in 1988»http://www.snp.org/people/parliamentarians/keith-brown-msp/. He then went to work in local government administration.
He was the SNP candidate for the European Parliament for Lothians constituency in 1994, coming second with 53,324 votes»Lothians. Brown was then elected to represent Alva on Clackmannanshire Council in a by-election in 1996»Alva and Clackmannan 1996. He became group leader in 1997, and then Leader of the Council after the SNP took control of Clackmannanshire in the 2003 elections.
Holyrood
Brown was elected to the Scottish Parliament by Ochil constituency at the 2007 elections, increasing both absolute SNP vote and majority»BBC NEWS | Election 2007 | Scottish Parliament | Election Result: Ochil.
He was appointed to be Convener of both the Parliament's Standards & Public Appointments Committee and Procedures Committee, and after overseeing their merger now convenes the new Standards, Procedures & Public Appointments Committee»The Scottish Parliament: - Committees - Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments.
In his maiden speech on the abolition of bridge tolls he declared that he still had an outstanding fine from the Skye Bridge protests of 1994»The Courier: Taking you to the heart of Tayside and Fife. He has been an opponent of the proposals for an overhead electricity line from Beauly to Denny, arguing for an underground alternative»Scotsman.com News. Brown has also been campaigning for Scotland football matches to be available on terrestrial television»Show Scotland Games On Main TV Says MSP - The Daily Record.