Michael Russell (politician)
Michael Russell ( born August 9, 1953 in Bromley ) is a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party ( SNP). Over the years Russell also published several non-fiction books as well as a literary work.
Political career
Russell attended Marr College in Troon and then went to the University of Edinburgh, which he left as a master in Scottish history and literature. He then worked in the media sector. In 1974, he joined the SNP and has held various positions over the years. He was instrumental in the election of Alex Salmond as party chief in 1990 and between 1994 and 1999 campaign manager of the SNP, who coordinated both the campaigns to the general election in 1997 and the elections in the constituencies Perth and Paisley South.
Election results
For the first time Russell joined the British general election, 1987 national elections. However, in his constituency Clydesdale he he only held approximately 14.8 % of the vote and the fourth highest share of the vote and failed to reach the British House of Commons. In the Scottish Parliament elections in 1999, Russell applied for the direct mandate of the constituency of Cunninghame South, but defeated the Labour candidate Irene Oldfather significantly. But as he was set to the regional election list of polling Region South of Scotland in second place, Russell was awarded as a result of the election results is one of seven list mandates of the constituency and moved into the Scottish Parliament. In the shadow cabinet of SNP Russell was provided between 2000 and 2003 as Secretary of State for Children and education. He was also party spokesperson for radio and Gaelic. In the 2003 parliamentary elections, he was again not win the direct mandate of Cunninghame South. Since Russell was set to these elections only on the fourth place in the regional election list, he received no mandate and thus different from from the Parliament. In 2004, Russell presented for election to the party presidency and got past Alex Salmond ( 75.6 %) and Roseanna Cunningham (14.6%) with 9.7 % of the vote the third highest share of the vote.
In the 2007 parliamentary elections Russell candidate in the constituency of Dumfries, but received only the third highest number of votes. Nevertheless, he won a parliamentary seat again, this time for the election Region South of Scotland. Following the election, he was appointed Secretary of State for Environment and held this position until 2009 when he was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution. At the end of 2009 Russell was appointed Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning. In the parliamentary elections in 2011, he applied for the direct mandate of the constituency Argyll and Bute, prompting his party colleague Jim Mather from which no longer took up to these elections. First time it was Russell to win the direct mandate of a constituency. His ministerial post he retained unchanged.
Works
- M. Russell ( Ed.): Glasgow - The Book 1990
- M. Russell ( Ed.): Edinburgh - A Celebration, 1992, ISBN 978-1-85158-517-5
- M. Russell: A Poem of Remote Lives: Images of Eriskay, 1934 - Enigma of Werner Kissling, 1895-1988, 1997, ISBN 978-1-89778-446-4
- M. Russell: In Waiting: Travels in the Shadow of Edwin Muir, 1998, ISBN 978-1-89778-463-1
- M. Russell: A Different Country: Photographs by Werner Kissling, 2002, ISBN 978-1-84158-245-0
- M. Russell ( Ed.), Winnie Ewing: Stop the World - The Autobiography of Winnie Ewing, 2004, ISBN 978-1-84158-239-9
- M. Russell, D. McLeod: Grasping the Thistle: How Scotland Must React to the Three Key Challenges of the Twenty First Century, 2006, ISBN 978-1-90283-186-2
- M. Russell: The Next Big Thing: A Fable of Modern Scotland, 2007, ISBN 978-1-90597-400-9
- M. Russell, I. McKie Shirley McKie: The Price of Innocence, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84158-575-8