Kenny MacAskill has been the MP for East Lothian since 2019 and is the Depute Leader of the ALBA Party. Prior to entering the Westminster parliament he first served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament, initially for the Lothians Region from 1999 to 2007, for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh from 2007 to 2011, and eventually as MSP for Edinburgh Eastern. He was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice within the Scottish Government in 2007 and was re-appointed in May 2011, standing down from that role in 2014. He has a column with the East Lothian Courier and The Scotsman newspapers and is a regular contributor to The Scots Magazine. He is the author of several books.