Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron Of Lochiel
Donald Andrew John Cameron of Lochiel, Baron Cameron of Lochiel (born 26 November 1976) is a Scottish Conservative politician and life peer who has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland since 2024.
He was elected a member of the Scottish Parliament for the electoral region of the Highlands and Islands in 2016, serving in various roles in the Conservative shadow cabinet before his appointment to the House of Lords in 2024. Cameron succeeded his father as the 28th Lochiel, the hereditary chief of Clan Cameron, in 2023.
Early life and education
Donald Cameron was born at St Mary's Hospital, London, on 26 November 1976 to Donald Angus Cameron of Lochiel, later 27th Lochiel, and Lady Cecil Cameron (née Kerr), daughter of Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian. He was educated at Harrow School before going up to Oriel College, Oxford, where graduated with a first-class honours degree in modern history. Cameron then gained a diploma in law from City, University of London, on the Bar Vocational Course. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 2005.
Cameron worked as an advocate for ten years before his election and acted for a range of clients in public, agricultural and crofting law.
Political career
Cameron stood as the Scottish Conservative candidate in the UK Parliament constituency of Ross, Skye and Lochaber, coming fourth of seven candidates in the 2010 general election with 12.2 per cent of the vote; he came third of the five candidates contesting Orkney and Shetland in the 2015 general election, with 8.9 per cent.
In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Cameron finished third in the constituency of Argyll and Bute, but was elected as the Conservatives' third-placed candidate on the Highlands and Islands regional list. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson nominated Cameron to be Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport.
In 2017, Cameron was appointed the Scottish Conservatives' 2021 Policy Co-ordinator.
Cameron was appointed Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance by the Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw in February 2020, and subsequently Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport by Carlaw's successor Douglas Ross. In May 2021, he was appointed Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.
Cameron helped re-establish the Cross-Party Group on Health Inequalities and was one of three co-convenors of the group until May 2021. He remains a member of the group. He was the co-convenor of the Cross-Party Group on MS and the vice-convenor of the Cross-Party Group on Gàidhlig. He also sits on various other cross-party groups, including those on beer and pubs and on crofting.
In 2022, Cameron joined Ross in calling for Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister over the Westminster lockdown parties controversy, along with a majority of Scottish Conservative MSPs.
Upon the death of his father in October 2023, he succeeded to the chiefship of Clan Cameron, thus becoming the 28th Lochiel.
Cameron was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland in the Scotland Office on 9 February 2024, resigning his seat in the Scottish Parliament on the same day. He was replaced by Tim Eagle as a Conservative regional MSP for the Highlands and Islands, and was created a life peer on 4 March 2024 as Baron Cameron of Lochiel, of Achnacarry in the County of Inverness.
Personal life
In 2009, Cameron married Sarah Elizabeth Maclay, the only daughter of Angus Grenfell Maclay and a niece of Joseph Maclay, 3rd Baron Maclay. They have four sons and a daughter.
References
- Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Donald Cameron
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