Keith Brown

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Keith Brown has been the member of the Scottish Parliament for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane since 2007. [1] He was appointed Scottish energy secretary in May 2016 as part of the 'Economy, Jobs and Fair Work' ministerial portfolio. Before this Brown was infrastructure secretary.

Background

Before his election he served for eleven years as a councillor in Clackmannanshire, and held the post of Council Leader from 1999 to 2003. He was appointed Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning in February 2009 and has since held a number of ministerial roles before becoming Minister for Transport and Veterans in September 2012.
Brown worked for 15 years as a local government professional in neighbouring Stirling, where he was also an active trade union representative with UNISON.
He is a graduate of Dundee University and studied at the University of Prince Edward Island. Originally from Edinburgh, Keith now lives in Dollar with his three children.

Fracking

Brown's parliamentary seat sits in the the prime shale zone north of the border, known as the Midland Valley of Scotland. The area was identified by the British Geological Survey in 2014 as a “prospective for oil-mature” shale and “prospective for gas-mature” shale.

In May 2016 questions were raised over whether Brown's latest ministerial post presents a conflict of interest given that that his new responsibilities include 'energy and energy consent'.

Half his constituency lies inside a 330-square-kilometre zone named PEDL 133, an area licensed by the UK Government for hydrocarbon exploration (though not yet extraction) which includes Grangemouth.

Staff

Affiliations

Resources

Contact

Website:

Notes

  1. Keith Brown Biography, www.parliament.co.uk, accessed 2 June 2016
  2. Register Of Interests Of Members' Secretaries And Research Assistants, 23 March 2016, parliament.uk, accessed 19 April 2016