Born in Edinburgh and educated at Linlithgow Academy, MacAskill studied law at the University of Edinburgh and was a senior partner in a law firm in Glasgow. He was a long-standing member of the SNP's National Executive Committee and served as treasurer and vice convener of policy, before being elected at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election.
Kenny served as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government from 2007 - 2014 and had been the MP for East Lothian since 2019.
In Westminster, Kenny has led the charge to save the Grangemouth Oil Refinery from closure.