[1][dead link][2] According to Fairbairn's autobiography A Life is Too Short (1987), his father adopted the maternal role after his mother rejected him at birth.
[2] After the former Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home announced his retirement from Parliament between the 1974 elections, Fairbairn was selected to succeed him.
[2] His right-wing views endeared him to Margaret Thatcher, and when she formed her Government after winning the 1979 general election she appointed him Solicitor-General for Scotland.
A prosecution was dropped in a case involving the gang rape and mutilation of a young woman after doctors determined she was too traumatized to serve as a credible witness.
[2] In his resignation letter of 21 January 1982, he admitted to making "errors of judgment" in his dealings with the press and that in the circumstances "I ought no longer to remain in office as Solicitor-General for Scotland".
[6] Matthew Parris noted that despite the manner of his departure he showed loyalty to Thatcher whom he described afterwards as "probably the warmest and kindest human being that those who have met her have ever encountered".
[7] In 1983, Fairbairn was elected an honorary Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and he became a Trustee of the Royal Museums of Scotland in 1987.
[8] The Independent said about Fairbairn's politics, "At heart he was a libertarian who wanted to espouse human rights and civil liberties.
[2] He called members of the band Throbbing Gristle "wreckers of civilisation" in 1976 in a row over public funding of the arts.
He also criticised Scottish performers Simple Minds and Annie Lennox for taking part in the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in Wembley Stadium, describing them as "left-wing scum".
[2] Fairbairn had stated that he would stand down at the 1997 general election, but he died before then, at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline, on 19 February 1995, aged 61.
[16] In the subsequent by-election, his seat was won by Roseanna Cunningham of the Scottish National Party, with the Conservatives falling to third place.
[19][20] It was also alleged that his name was included on a list of 'VIPs' who frequented a 'paedophile-friendly' guest house in London; however, these specific claims are widely regarded as a hoax.