Kenny MacAskill | |
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Cabinet Secretary for Justice | |
In office 17 May 2007 – 21 November 2014 |
|
First Minister | Alex Salmond |
Preceded by | Cathy Jamieson |
Succeeded by | Michael Matheson |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern Edinburgh East and Musselburgh 2007–2011 |
|
In office 3 May 2007 – 23 March 2016 |
|
Preceded by | Susan Deacon |
Succeeded by | Ash Denham |
Majority | 2233 (7.3%) |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Lothians |
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In office 6 May 1999 – 3 May 2007 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Edinburgh, Scotland |
28 April 1958
Nationality | Scottish |
Political party | Scottish National Party |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Profession | Solicitor |
Website | www.kennymacaskill.co.uk |
Kenneth "Kenny" Wright MacAskill (born 28 April 1958) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who is a former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) 1999−2016 and former Cabinet Secretary for Justice 2007−2014. He was MSP for the first four sessions of the Parliament, representing the Lothians region 1999−2007, then the constituency of Edinburgh East and Musselburgh 2007–11 and Edinburgh Eastern constituency 2011−16.
MacAskill studied law at the University of Edinburgh and worked as a solicitor and was a senior partner in an Edinburgh law firm, before being elected as an MSP in 1999. He was a long-standing member of the SNP's National Executive Committee and has served as National Treasurer and Vice Convener of Policy. He was convener of the Scottish Parliament Subordinate Legislation Committee (1999-2001), and served in the SNP Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning (2001-2003), Shadow Minister for Transport and Telecommunications (2003-2004) and Shadow Minister for Justice (2004-2007).
Following the SNP's victory in the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election, MacAskill was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government. He left office in November 2014 in the Cabinet reshuffle which followed the appointment of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland.