Derry Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg

The Lord Irvine of Lairg
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office
2 May 1997 – 12 June 2003
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byThe Lord Mackay of Clashfern
Succeeded byThe Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Shadow portfolios
1992–1997Shadow Lord Chancellor
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
25 March 1987
Life peerage
Personal details
Born
Alexander Andrew Mackay Irvine

(1940-06-23) 23 June 1940 (age 84)
Inverness, Scotland, UK
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Christ's College, Cambridge

Alexander Andrew Mackay Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, PC, KC (born 23 June 1940), known as Derry Irvine, is a Scottish lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor from 1997 to 2003.

He founded and headed 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers in the 1980s, and later became a Recorder and Deputy High Court Judge. A member of the Labour Party, Irvine was appointed to the House of Lords in 1987 and served as Shadow Lord Chancellor from 1992 to 1997. He was appointed to the position in Cabinet by Prime Minister Tony Blair, his former pupil, after the 1997 election and served until his dismissal in 2003.