Douglas (or Doug) was born and educated in Aberdeen. He left school at 16 and joined Aberdeen City Police as a Cadet in 1973. From 75 to 91 he served in the then Grampian Police in and around Aberdeen. He was elected General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) and moved to Glasgow. (The SPF is a staff association which represents 99% of all police officers in Scotland and amongst other things negotiates their pay and conditions and gives advice to Government and others on policing issues.) After 30 years police service he retired as a police officer in 2005 and since then has been the Business Manager of the Federation.

In 1995, he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) for distinguished police service in Her Majesty’s New Year’s Honours List. In 2005, he became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Her Majesty’s New Year’s Honours List. He is married and lives with his wife and two children in the suburbs of Glasgow. His interests include Youth Football and “non-party” politics.