Michael Moore (Scottish politician)

Michael Kevin Moore (born 3 June 1965) is a British Liberal Democrat politician.

Born in Northern Ireland, but largely raised in Scotland, he qualified as a chartered accountant and worked as a researcher to the prominent Liberal Democrat politician, David Steel.

Moore was born in Dundonald, Northern Ireland on 3 June 1965 to Geraldine Anne (Jill) and Rev. William Haisley Moore, who was a chaplain in the British Army.

He moved with his family to Wishaw, Scotland, in 1970 and then to the Scottish Borders in 1981.

He was educated at Strathallan School, Jedburgh Grammar School and the University of Edinburgh, where he studied politics and modern history.

On leaving University he worked for a year as a researcher for Liberal Democrat MP Archy Kirkwood before joining the Edinburgh office of accountants Coopers & Lybrand.

He qualified as a Scottish Chartered Accountant, going on to be a manager in the office's corporate finance practice.

At the 1997 general election, Moore succeeded Steel as the Liberal Democrat MP for the Scottish Borders constituency of Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk from 2005).

Moore was elected to the Westminster parliament during the 1997 general election as the MP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale succeeding David Steel following his retirement with a majority of 1,489.

In 2001 he retained his seat increasing his majority to 5,157.

In November 2001 he was made Deputy Foreign Affairs Spokesman under Charles Kennedy followed by the position of Defence spokesman.

Under the leadership of Sir Menzies Campbell he looked after Foreign Affairs and under Nick Clegg took the title of Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

In 2002 he was elected to the internal position of Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and re-elected to the role in 2007.

He joined the Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team in 2005, and held many portfolios, including Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Northern Ireland & Scotland (joint).

Moore was elected on two occasions (2005 and 2010) to serve as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, and was returned on two earlier occasions (1997 and 2001) as MP for the previous constituency of Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

In 2005 following boundary changes Moore contested the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk and won with a majority of 5,901, he defended the seat in 2010 once again retaining this time with a slightly decreased majority of 5,675.

After his election to Parliament he served as the party's Scottish spokesman on the economy and a member of the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee before taking up the position of Transport Spokesman.

Following the general election of 2010, and the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, the cabinet post of Scottish Secretary was given to the Liberal Democrats, initially Danny Alexander.

However following the resignation of Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws a month later, Alexander took his role, and Moore was appointed the Scottish Secretary on 29 May 2010 after receiving the call asking him to accept the role at his child’s birthday party.

Moore resigned from that position on 20 September 2010 citing the pressures of an increased workload following his elevation to Secretary of State for Scotland following the 2010 general election.

Following the 2010 general election and the coalition government formed between the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats, Moore was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland on 29 May 2010, a move that followed the promotion of fellow Scottish MP Danny Alexander to Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Shortly after becoming Secretary of State for Scotland, he appeared on the BBC's Question Time programme, where he was challenged by an audience member who felt concerned that he would be made homeless by the government's new housing policies.

In response Moore said "the horrible truth is that across the country everyone is going to have to make a contribution to getting the country right", before going on to explain that measures taken in the emergency budget were there to help the lowest paid.

The audience member challenged Moore on the response and told him to "get a grip".

In the same programme, Moore said that fellow Cabinet member Michael Gove had made a major mistake in his announcement about the scrapping of the school rebuilding programme but said that the Education Secretary had apologised with "grace" for it.

In September 2010 when compiling their list of the 50 most influential Liberal Democrats Moore was named by the Daily Telegraph as the 13th most influential.

Describing him within the context of the role he occupied as a "safe pair of hands in a job where the definition of success is being able to keep out of trouble"

As part of the British government's 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) due to be announced on 20 October, Moore lent his support to Defence Secretary Liam Fox in cabinet discussions to retain funding for two aircraft carriers which would be constructed in yards around Britain, including in Glasgow and Rosyth in Scotland.

The project, costing £5.2 billion was thought to be under threat following the spending review which many believed could result in a 20% cut in the Ministry of Defence budget.

He also provided backing for the upkeep of RAF bases in Kinloss and Lossiemouth which it was estimated were worth 6000 jobs to the Moray economy after campaigners had feared that the bases may be closed as a result of the budget cuts.

On visiting the bases Moore said: "What I am determined to do is ensure we make the best possible case for the bases."

but added that he could make "no guarantees" about the future of the bases.

On 9 October 2010 it was announced that Moore had been appointed to the Government's Public Expenditure Committee or "Star Chamber" following the settlement of his own departmental budget.

He joined other cabinet ministers on the committee who had also agreed their own budgets and would help deliberate over the budgets of departments prior to the spending review announcement.

On 19 October 2010 David Cameron announced the results of the government's review of defence spending just one day before the announcement of the spending review.

The review contained disappointing news for RAF Kinloss as it was announced that government orders for Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft would be cancelled.

The cancellation of the project meant that the base would need to close with the future of RAF Lossiemouth also becoming uncertain with Michael Moore saying that the decision on its future still needed to be decided.

After entering office, Moore oversaw the implementation of the Scotland Act 2012, which granted further devolution to Scotland.

He was removed from the post in a Cabinet reshuffle in October 2013.

He was defeated in the 2015 general election by Calum Kerr, the SNP candidate.