Gorrie was educated at the independent Oundle School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he read classics and modern history.

He was firmly on the radical left of the Liberal Democrats, believing in full-scale political reform and significant increases in spending on public services.

Gorrie disliked his characterisation as a rebel, pointing to the fact that (unlike the pro-coalition MSPs) he was merely sticking to the Liberal Democrats' manifesto commitments.

As time passed, and particularly after he was re-elected for a second term as MSP in 2003, he mellowed, however, and–confined to the backbenches with no hope of ministerial appointment–he concentrated on campaigning on a number of particular themes which interested him.

Disliked by some (mainly those in what he would term 'the establishment') for the uncompromising stances he has taken, Gorrie was nevertheless said to be widely respected for his consistency of principle and his long record of service to liberal politics and public life in general.