1. Des Browne became a partner in McCluskey Browne in 1985, and was a council member of the Law Society of Scotland from 1988 to 1992.
22 Facts About Des Browne
1. 2.
Des Browne was admitted as an advocate in 1993, practising at the Scottish bar until 1997.
3.
Des Browne contested the parliamentary seat of Argyll and Bute at the 1992 general election, and finished in fourth place behind the sitting Liberal Democrat MP Ray Michie.
4.
Des Browne was elected to the Faculty of Advocates in 1993.
5.
Des Browne was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Kilmarnock and Loudoun following the retirement of the sitting MP William McKelvey.
6.
Des Browne won the seat at the 1997 general election with a majority of 7,256.
7.
Des Browne joined the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee on his election, and became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Scotland Donald Dewar in 1998.
8.
On 27 November 2009, Des Browne announced his intention not to seek election in the 2010 general election.
9.
Des Browne was promoted to Minister of State for Work in 2003, before moving to the Home Office in 2004 as the minister with responsibility for immigration.
10.
Des Browne joined the Cabinet following the 2005 general election as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and became a member of the Privy Council.
11.
Des Browne was appointed Secretary of State for Defence on 5 May 2006.
12.
Des Browne came under criticism after allowing the Royal Navy personnel captured by Iran in spring 2007 to sell and publish their stories.
13.
Under Blair's premiership, Des Browne was considered a supporter of the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.
14.
Des Browne received the additional responsibilities of Secretary of State for Scotland in June 2007 after Brown became prime minister.
15.
Des Browne returned to the backbenches in October 2008 following a cabinet reshuffle.
16.
Des Browne gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry on 25 January 2010.
17.
Des Browne was created a life peer on 22 July 2010, taking the title Baron Browne of Ladyton, of Ladyton in Ayrshire and Arran.
18.
Des Browne is a Fellow Commoner of St Catharine's College, Cambridge.
19.
Des Browne is convener of the European Leadership Network for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation.
20.
Des Browne is a signatory of Global Zero, a non-profit international initiative for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide.
21.
In February 2009, Des Browne was appointed by PM Brown as the government's special envoy to Sri Lanka.
22.
However, the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, fighting the LTTE rebel group, rejected Des Browne's appointment, stating that the British government made the appointment unilaterally, without consultation with the Sri Lankan government.