Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for Scotland

The Rt Hon Des Browne MP

Des Browne has been Secretary of State for Defence since 2006. As part of Gordon Brown's first Cabinet in June 2007, he was also appointed Secretary of State for Scotland.

Prior to that, Mr Browne was Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Previously, he was Minister of State for Citizenship and Immigration at the Home Offiice.

Mr Browne has also been Minister of State for Work at the Department for Work and Pensions and also held the position of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at The Northern Ireland Office.

Mr Browne has been MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun since 1997 and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the late Donald Dewar MP and Adam Ingram MP.

He is a former member of Select Committees on Northern Ireland (1997-1998), Public Administration (1999) and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights (2001).

Mr Browne also tabled the Register of Drug Trafficking Offenders Bill, a private Member's Bill to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act and establish a register of trafficking offenders.

Mr Browne was born on 22 March 1952 and studied at Glasgow University where he was awarded an LLB. He is married and has two sons. Before entering Parliament he was a solicitor and was called to the Scottish Bar in 1993.