David Cairns was born in Greenock in the old Rankin Hospital in 1966. All my family live locally and I feel deeply privileged to have been elected as the first ever local person to represent Inverclyde. I have a rather different background to most MP’s.

I was educated at Gregorian University, Rome and the Franciscan Study Centre, Canterbury and from 1991 to 1994 I was a catholic priest — starting in Scotland and ending up in south London. But, I found that politics was becoming my first interest and felt that I wanted to work for the labour movement full-time.

From 1994–97 I worked as a Director of the Christian Socialist Movement and secretary for Labour’s socialist societies. Then for four years before becoming Greenock and Inverclyde’s MP I worked as researcher to Siobhain McDonagh MP and served as a councillor in the London Borough of Merton.

In 2001 I was elected as the MP for the constituency of Greenock and Inverclyde and in 2003 I became the Personal Private Secretary to the Pensions Minister. At the 2005 General Election I was fortunate enough to be returned as the MP for the new enlarged constituency of Inverclyde. I was then appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scotland Office in 2005 and in 2007 I became the Minister of State at the same Department. In 2008 I resigned from my ministerial position and returned to the Backbenches.