Kenny MacAskill | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2011 | |
| Acting Leader of the Alba Party | |
| Assumed office 12 October 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Alex Salmond |
| Depute Leader of the Alba Party | |
| Assumed office 11 September 2021 | |
| Leader | Alex Salmond Himself (acting) |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| 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 Parliament for East Lothian | |
| In office 12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Whitfield |
| Succeeded by | Douglas Alexander |
| Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (2007–2011) | |
| In office 3 May 2007 – 24 March 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Susan Deacon |
| Succeeded by | Ash Denham |
| Member of the Scottish Parliament for Lothians (1 of 7 Regional MSPs) | |
| In office 6 May 1999 – 3 May 2007 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 April 1958 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Political party | Alba[1] |
| Other political affiliations | SNP (1978–2021) |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Profession | Solicitor |
| Website | www.kennymacaskillmp.scot |
Kenneth Wright MacAskill (born 28 April 1958) is a Scottish politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Lothian from 2019 to 2024. He previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2007 to 2014 and was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 1999 to 2016. A former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he defected to the Alba Party in 2021 and currently serves as the party's acting leader, following Alex Salmond's death in October 2024.
Born in Edinburgh and educated at Linlithgow Academy, MacAskill studied law at the University of Edinburgh and was a senior partner in a law firm in Glasgow. He was a long-standing member of the SNP's National Executive Committee and served as treasurer and vice convener of policy, before being elected at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. He was convener of the Scottish Parliament Subordinate Legislation Committee from 1999 to 2001.
Following the SNP's victory in 2007, MacAskill was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government. In this role, he oversaw the controversial transfer of convicted terrorist Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to his native Libya. MacAskill left office in November 2014 in the Cabinet reshuffle which followed the appointment of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland and stood down from the Scottish Parliament at the 2016 election.
After standing down from the Scottish Parliament, MacAskill was elected to the House of Commons as MP for East Lothian at the 2019 general election, gaining the previously Labour-held seat from Martin Whitfield. In March 2021, MacAskill defected from the SNP to the Alba Party. At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, he stood on the Alba Party's Lothian regional list but neither he nor his party succeeded in gaining a seat.
At the 2024 general election MacAskill stood in the Alloa and Grangemouth seat. He received 1.5% of the vote share with 638 votes.
- ^ "MP Kenny MacAskill quits SNP to join Alex Salmond's Alba Party". The National. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.