Alex Neil (politician)

Alexander Neil (born 22 August 1951) is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2012 to 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights from 2014 to 2016. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency since 2011.

Alex Neil MSP
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights
In office 21 November 2014 – 18 May 2016
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Angela Constance
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
In office 5 September 2012 – 21 November 2014
First Minister	Alex Salmond
Preceded by	Nicola Sturgeon
Succeeded by	Shona Robison
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Airdrie and Shotts
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2011
Preceded by	Karen Whitefield
Majority	6,192 (23.3%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland (1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
In office 6 May 1999 – 6 May 2011
Personal details
Born	22 August 1951 Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Labour Party (1967-1976) Scottish Labour Party (1976–1985) Scottish National Party (1985–present)
Spouse(s)	Isabella Kerr
Children	1
Alma mater	University of Dundee
Occupation	Political researcher; Businessman; Economic consultant

Early life and education

Neil was born in Ayrshire Central Hospital, Irvine, the son of Margaret (née Gunning) and Alexander Neil snr, a coalminer. He was brought up in Patna, Ayrshire, and became involved in Labour politics, joining the Labour Party in 1967, aged 16. He was educated at Ayr Academy, before attending the University of Dundee, where he studied economics. He served as chairman of the Scottish Organisation of Labour Students and later the UK-wide National Organisation of Labour Students.

Political career

Early years

After graduating with an MA (Hons) degree in 1973,[1] Neil was appointed as the first-ever research officer for the Scottish Executive Committee of the Labour Party. In 1976, Neil, along with Jim Sillars and John Robertson, left the Labour Party to form the breakaway group, the Scottish Labour Party (SLP). Neil served as General Secretary of the SLP from 1976 to 1979. By 1979 the SLP had collapsed and Neil fell out of active politics until 1985 when he joined the Scottish National Party (SNP).

SNP

Neil would go on to become the SNP's Publicity Director, and then in charge of the party's policy, as well as a candidate in the 1989 Glasgow Central by-election and candidate in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency in the 1992 and 1997 general elections.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

In 1999 he was elected SNP regional list MSP for Central Scotland in the first Scottish Parliament.

The following year he stood unsuccessfully in the hard-fought contest for the leadership of the SNP against John Swinney. Thereafter he was appointed chair of the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, a role he kept on until 2003.

In 2003 he was re-elected as SNP MSP for Central Scotland to the Scottish Parliament.

In July 2004, Neil announced that he would not be a candidate in the impending contest for the leadership of the SNP, despite the fact that he believed he had considerable support within the party. He said that the reason for his decision was that senior figures in the party (such as MSP Fergus Ewing and former SNP leader Alex Salmond) had made it clear publicly that they would not work with him as leader.[2]

In 2004 Neil was appointed chair of the Enterprise and Culture Committee. He was also a co-convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on the Scottish Economy.

Neil emerged as a leading supporter of former policewoman Shirley McKie as she bid to win compensation from the Scottish Government following her acquittal from perjury charges.

He was again re-elected as a regional MSP for Central Scotland in 2007. He sat on the European and External Relations Committee and the Finance Committee from 2007–2009, upon his promotion to Scottish Minister.

He voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, and is the only SNP MSP to publicly admit doing so.[3]

In August 2020 he announced that he would be standing down as an MSP at the upcoming 2021 Holyrood election.[4]

Government Minister

In the first reshuffle of the SNP Government since it took office in 2007, Neil was appointed as the Minister for Housing and Communities in February 2009.[5] In 2011 Neil defeated Karen Whitefield in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency, gaining a majority of 2001, a 5.5% swing from Labour to SNP.[6] He was promoted to the Scottish Cabinet on 19 May 2011 by Alex Salmond to become the new Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment after the SNP's landslide win in the 2011 Scottish election.

He was moved from that post to the post of Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing in September 2012. A month into this post, in an interview with Scotland on Sunday Neil spoke about the possibility of abortion laws being made in Scotland rather than Westminster, saying that politicians would have to consider the medical evidence.[7]

In May 2014 Neil survived a vote of no confidence 57-67. Opposition MSPs had alleged he had acted improperly by cancelling changes to mental health provision when he took up his post as Health Secretary.[8] After Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister of Scotland in November 2014, Neil was appointed to the new post of Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights. He resigned from the Government on 18 May 2016.

Awards

Neil has been honoured three times in the Scottish Politician of the Year awards organised by The Herald newspaper. In 2005, he was named "Donald Dewar Debater of the Year"; in 2017, he won the award in the "Committee Member of the Year" category; and in 2020, he was designated "best of the best" in the "Donald Dewar Debater of the Year" category.[9]

Personal life

Neil is married to Isabella Kerr and together they have one son.[1]

See also

• Government of the 3rd Scottish Parliament
• Government of the 4th Scottish Parliament

References

1. "Neil, Alexander, (born 22 Aug. 1951), Member (SNP) Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Parliament, since 2011 (Central Scotland, 1999–2011)", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u29277, retrieved 31 August 2019
2. "Neil drops out of SNP leadership race with attack on colleagues who 'undermined' him". The Herald. 5 July 2004. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
3. "SNP ex-minister Alex Neil voted for Brexit". 4 November 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
4. Cochrane, Angus (23 August 2020). "SNP veteran Alex Neil to stand down as MSP at 2021 Holyrood election". The National. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
5. "Cabinet and ministers at-a-glance". BBC News. 8 December 2009.
6. "Vote 2011: Airdrie & Shotts". BBC. 6 May 2011.
7. Peterkin, Tom (7 October 2012). "Health Secretary Alex Neil signals abortion law 'change after independence'". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
8. "SNP majority helps Neil fight off cross-party no confidence vote". Herald Scotland. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
9. Gordon, Tom (15 December 2020). "Witty, sharp and insightful ... Neil wins best debater in Holyrood". The Herald: 8.

External links

• Biography pages at Scottish Parliament
• Alex Neil on Twitter