astronomy

George Kerevan

George Kerevan is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand George Kerevan rather than just read about it. In short: George Kerevan (born 28 September 1949) is a Scottish journalist, economist, and politician. He was the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for East Lothian from 2015, until he lost his seat to Martin Whitfield of the Labour Party at the 2017 general election.

Key takeaways

George Kerevan belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect George Kerevan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George Kerevan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George Kerevan (born 28 September 1949) is a Scottish journalist, economist, and politician. He was the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for East Lothian from 2015, until he lost his seat to Martin Whitfield of the Labour Party at the 2017 general election.

Early life and education Born in Glasgow, Kerevan was educated at Kingsridge Secondary School in Drumchapel and the University of Glasgow, graduating with a First-class MA degree in political economy.

Professional career Kerevan held academic posts at Napier College, including Senior Lecturer in Economics, from 1975 to 2000, specialising in energy economics. He was associate editor of The Scotsman from 2000 to 2009, and was the chief executive of What If Productions (Television). He is co-organiser of the Prestwick World Festival of Flight.

Political career Kerevan was a member of the International Marxist Group (IMG), a Trotskyist group, between 1972 and 1982. During this time, alongside many other Scottish IMG activists, he joined Jim Sillars' fledgling Scottish Labour Party (SLP) using entryist tactics, a process that resulted in a purge of the IMG-associated members by Sillars at the party's first conference in October 1976. Following the demise of the IMG, Kerevan joined the Labour Party and served as a councillor for the party in Edinburgh from 1984 to 1996. In 1996, he left Labour to join the Scottish National Party. He went on to stand unsuccessfully as the SNP candidate for Edinburgh East at the 2010 general election, as well as an SNP candidate in the Lothian region in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. Kerevan eventually stood successfully as the SNP candidate for East Lothian at the 2015 general election. He won 25,104 votes, a majority of 6,803, and unseated the then-incumbent Labour MP Fiona O'Donnell. He was a member of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee. He subsequently lost his seat in the 2017 general election to Martin Whitfield of the Labour Party, who won with a majority of 3,083 votes over Kerevan. In March 2021, Kerevan defected from the SNP to the Alba Party. He stood for Lothian East at the 2024 general election, where he finished in seventh place out of seven candidates, winning 577 votes and a 1.2% share.

Selected works Kerevan is the co-author, with Alan Cochrane, of Scottish Independence: Yes or No, published in April 2014.

Arguments within Scottish Marxism, in The Bulletin of Scottish Politics No. 2, Spring 1981, pp. 111 – 133 The Collapse of the Scottish Economy, in Dunion, Kevin (ed.), Radical Scotland, February/March 1983, pp. 6 – 8, ISSN 0262-6993 Kerevan, George (1985). The case for Scottish coal. Kerevan, George (1986). The case for retaining a European coal industry: a critical response to the EEC Coal Directorate's close-and-import plan as laid out in COM (85)251 and COM (85)525. Kerevan, George (1987). The case for retaining Seafield: a special report on Seafield Colliery and the reasons why Seafield coal is vital to Scotland's energy future. Kerevan, George (1988). Scottish coalfields study 1988. Scottish Coal Project. Kerevan, George; Scottish Coal Project (1988). A plan for Scotland's energy future. Scottish Coal Project.

References

External links Official website George Kerevan Column The Scotsman

Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom Contributions in Parliament at Hansard Voting record at Public Whip Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou Profile on OpenSanctions, an open database of sanctions and persons of interest

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Kerevan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Kerevan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to George Kerevan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about George Kerevan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of George Kerevan

In research: George Kerevan appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses George Kerevan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: George Kerevan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, Academics of Edinburgh Napier University, Alba Party parliamentary candidates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Kerevan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study George Kerevan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what George Kerevan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain George Kerevan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is George Kerevan in simple terms?

Why does George Kerevan matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study George Kerevan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on George Kerevan.