Andrew Burns was first elected to local Government in May 1999 as a Labour Councillor for the Moat Ward, which is in the Westminster Parliamentary constituency of ‘Edinburgh South West’. He spent one year as a backbencher before joining Edinburgh Council’s newly formed Executive in June 2000. In June 2001 he took over the Transport portfolio and, after 5 very challenging years, spent 9-months at the Children and Families brief, until moving to the Opposition benches in May 2007!

From the elections in May 2007, Andrew is the Labour Councillor for the new, multi-Member Ward of Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart.

Andrew gained his first degree from the University of Ulster in 1984 and subsequently experienced a wide-range of employment environments. He has a professional background in personnel and training, and worked for several years in a variety of personnel and training roles in both manufacturing industry and the service sector.

Andrew became a Graduate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in 1990 and recently (2003) gained Full Member status of the CIPD.

Just prior to being elected Andrew was a Research Officer at Edinburgh University, where his time was divided between undertaking a research project in the field of 'education and social capital', and developing a 'civic education' programme. Previous research contracts included a year long study into democratic participation and the Scottish Parliament, and a three year study into UK-wide constitutional reform.

In addition to these professional and political interests, Andrew is a keen outdoor enthusiast and in a previous incarnation even spent a few years working in the outdoor pursuits sector.