Iain Gray

Infobox MSP
honorific-prefix =
name = Iain Gray
honorific-suffix = MSP


imagesize = 150px
caption =
office=Leader of Labour in the Scottish Parliament
predecessor=Wendy Alexander
successor=
term_start=13 September 2008
term_end=
constituency_MP2 = East Lothian
parliament2 = Scottish
majority2 = 2,448 (7.1%)
term_start2 = 3 May 2007
term_end2 =
predecessor2 = John Home Robertson
successor2 =
constituency_MP3 = Edinburgh Pentlands
parliament3 = Scottish
majority3 =
term_start3 = 6 May 1999
term_end3 = 1 May 2003
predecessor3 = "new constituency"
successor3 = David McLetchie
birth_date = Birth date and age|1957|06|7|df=yes
birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland
death_date =
death_place =
birthname =
nationality =
party = Scottish Labour Party
spouse =
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Edinburgh
occupation =
profession =
cabinet =
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Iain Gray (born June 7 1957, Edinburgh) is the member of the Scottish Parliament for East Lothian and the leader of the Labour parliamentary group in the Scottish Parliament. He was elected to the parliament in the 2007 Scottish election and elected by his party as leader of the Labour group on 13th September 2008 following the resignation of Wendy Alexander. Previously he was MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands constituency from 1999 to 2003.

Early life

Gray was educated at Inverness Royal Academy and the exclusive, and at the time boys only, independent fee paying George Watson's College before studying physics at the University of Edinburgh. After graduation he worked as a teacher including a stint in Mozambique during that country's Marxist era, before joining the charity Oxfam.

Political career

Immediately after his election to Holyrood he was made a deputy minister in the first Scottish Executive in 1999 and following Jack McConnell's becoming First Minister he was promoted to Minister for Social Justice. After the surprise resignation of Wendy Alexander in 2002, Gray took over her role as Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, where he was responsible for overseeing significant changes to Scottish higher education and was widely-regarded for his handing of economic activity issues.

In the 2003 election he was defeated by the then Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie, whom he had beaten in 1999. After leaving Holyrood, he worked as a special advisor to the Scottish Office under Alistair Darling and initially announced he would not be seeking re-election. However he was selected as the Labour candidate for East Lothian for the 2007 elections and subsequently won re-election.

In early 2005 he was diagnosed with an extreme viral infection of the parotid salivary glands. This inhibited his political career for the remainder of the year and despite making a full recovery, the physical affects of the infection remain present.

Gray was appointed Labour's shadow spokesman for enterprise, energy and tourism upon his return to Parliament.

In July 2008, Gray announced he would stand in the contest to find the next leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament, and was elected to this post in September 2008.

External links

* [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/iain_gray/index.htm Iain Gray MSP] biography at the Scottish Parliament website
* [http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2002/05/1572 Scottish Government biography]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7614081.stm Gray becomes Scots Labour leader] BBC News
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7618474.stm Labour frontline team announced] BBC News

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