Wendy Alexander

Infobox MSP
honorific-prefix =
name = Wendy Alexander
honorific-suffix = MSP


imagesize = 150px
order =
office = Leader of Labour in the Scottish Parliament
term_start = 14 September 2007
term_end = 28 June 2008
predecessor = Jack McConnell
successor = Iain Gray
office1 = Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning
term_start1 = 28 November 2001
term_end1 = 3 May 2002
firstminister1 = Jack McConnell
predecessor1 = "Office created"
successor1 = Iain Gray
office2 = Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
firstminister2 = Henry McLeish
term_start2 = 1 November 2000
term_end2 = 28 November 2001
predecessor2 = Iain Gray
successor2 = "Office abolished"
office3 = Minister for Communities
firstminister3 = Donald Dewar
term_start3 = 19 May 1999
term_end3 = 1 November 2000
predecessor3 = "Office created"
successor3 = "Office abolished"
constituency_MP4 = Paisley North
parliament4 = Scottish
majority4 = 5,113 (22.0%)
term_start4 = 6 May 1999
term_end4 =
predecessor4 = "Constituency created"
successor4 =
party = Scottish Labour Party
birth_date = birth date and age|1963|6|27|df=yes
birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland
nationality = British
party = Scottish Labour Party
spouse = Prof Brian Kemp Ashcroft
birth_date = birth date and age|1963|3|5|df=yes
relations = Douglas Alexander (brother)
alma_mater = University of Glasgow
University of Warwick
INSEAD
website =
footnotes =

Wendy Alexander (born 27 June 1963, Glasgow) is a Scottish politician and the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Paisley North. She was the leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament from 14 September 2007 until her resignation on 28 June 2008.

Early life

Her father, the Rev Douglas Alexander, presided at the funeral of Donald Dewar. "For almost 50 years, Donald and I were friends. We were together in the Labour Club of the University of Glasgow — all those years ago." he said. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/scotland/2000/donald_dewar/976706.stm Rev Douglas Alexander's introduction] , "BBC News Online", 17 October 2000] Alexander continued the family connection when "Donald Dewar", a book edited by her was published in 2005. [ISBN 1845960386]

Alexander's brother Douglas, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Labour Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South.

Alexander holds a degree in history from the University of Glasgow, a MA in Industrial Relations from the University of Warwick, and a MBA from INSEAD.

Member of Scottish Parliament

Prior to entering the Scottish Parliament, Alexander worked as a researcher for the then-Labour MP George Galloway, before going back to university. Galloway claims that the first time she saw a mobile phone she asked 'Where do you put the money in?'. [ [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/comment/columnists/lifestyle-columnists/george-galloway/2008/05/12/it-s-all-over-for-wendy-86908-20414942/ It's All Over For Wendy] , "Daily Record", 12 May 2008] After her MBA she was briefly a consultant for the international management consultancy Booz & Company before being appointed as a special adviser to the Secretary of State for Scotland by her mentor, Donald Dewar. From 1999 to 2002 she was a minister in the Scottish Executive, first as Minister for Communities, later as Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, and then as Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning. She resigned from ministerial office on 4 May 2002.

After her stormy resignation from Jack McConnell's Cabinet in 2002 she was a visiting professor at the Strathclyde Business School. She later married Professor Brian Ashcroft and now has two children. Alexander has a regular column in the "Daily Record", the main Labour supporting tabloid in Scotland.

Wendy Alexander has had a number of problems dealing with her staff to the extent that within the Scottish Executive her behaviour was described as being "Wendied". [ [http://news.scotsman.com/fallofafirstminister/Wendy-The-talent-and-the.2297298.jp Wendy: The talent and the tantrums] , "The Scotsman", 25 January 2002] Shortly after becoming leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament three spin-doctors resigned within a matter of months. [ [http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2018269.0.new_blow_for_wendy_alexander_as_key_aide.php New blow for Wendy Alexander as key aide quits] , "The Herald", 5 February 2008] Her new spin doctor (Simon Pia) also created poor publicity as he was discovered to have stirred up trouble at a school by asking the head-teacher to spread malicious rumours about the SNP cutting funding at the school.Fact|date=May 2008

cottish Labour leadership bid

After the 2007 election, Alexander became Shadow Finance Secretary in Jack McConnell's Shadow Cabinet. On McConnell's resignation on 15 August 2007, she was mentioned as a possible successor and two days later, on 17 August, she formally launched her campaign for the leadership of the Labour Party in Holyrood. As the only candidate, Alexander was installed as leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament on 14 September 2007. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6993828.stm Alexander leads Scottish labour] , "BBC News Online", 14 September 2007]

Leader of Scottish Labour

Leadership rating

At the Scottish Labour Party conference on 28 March 2008, Wendy Alexander was asked to rate her performance thus far as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party. She replied "Ten out of Ten, Ten out of Ten" [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7317115.stm Alexander says she's a perfect 10] , "BBC News Online", 28 March 2008] . However, a few days earlier, on 17 March 2008, an opinion poll on her personal opinion suggested that "thirty per cent of voters said Alexander was doing well and 52 per cent thought she was doing a bad job — giving her an approval rating of minus 22 percent." [ [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/03/17/alex-salmond-builds-massive-lead-over-wendy-alexander-at-the-polls-86908-20353628/ Alex Salmond Builds Massive Lead Over Wendy Alexander At The Polls] , "Daily Record", 17 March 2008]

A poll conducted in a Scottish paper indicated that 78% of Scots did not trust Wendy Alexander and 63% said that they would not vote for Labour until she had resigned and that Labour earned the trust of the people.Fact|date=May 2008

She is the first leader of Labour in Holyrood never to have been First Minister, and the first never to have been made a Privy Counsellor.

Controversies

Donation scandals

In 2007, a funding scandal developed after it emerged that she had accepted an illegal donation from Paul Green, a property magnate, [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/12/01/do0107.xml Wendy Alexander should resign at once] , "Daily Telegraph", 1 December 2007] a matter that was investigated by the Electoral Commission and Strathclyde Police. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7120096.stm Alexander wrote to illegal donor] , "BBC News Online", 30 November 2007] Further newspaper reports on 30 November indicated Alexander was aware of the identity of the donor, after having sent a personal letter of gratitude to Mr Green (at his home in Jersey) concerning the donation. [ [http://www.scotsman.com/politics/Bombshell-for-Labour-on-illegal.3585975.jp Bombshell for Labour on illegal donations] , "The Scotsman", 1 December 2007] Accepting a donation from someone who is not registered on the UK electoral roll is illegal under electoral law, and is subject to criminal prosecution. As Mr Green was not registered as an elector on any electoral register in the United Kingdom this barred him from donating to a UK-based party. However, the Electoral Commission concluded in February 2008 that Alexander had taken 'significant steps' to comply with funding regulations and decided not to refer the matter to the Procurator Fiscal. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7232516.stm Alexander in clear over donations] , "BBC News Online", 7 February 2008] . As part of the Electoral Commission ruling, they also stated that Wendy "did not take all reasonable steps" and that "there is not sufficient evidence to establish that an offence has been committed". [ [http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/news-and-media/news-releases/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/statement-by-the-electoral-commission Statement by the Electoral Commission] , "Electoral Commission", 7 February 2008] These mixed messages have resulted in a number of people questioning the decision including Alex Salmond the head of the Scottish Government who likened the result to a "not proven" verdict. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7232516.stm Alexander in clear over donation] , "BBC News Online", 7 February 2008]

In a separate development, a few days earlier in February 2008, the standards watchdog for Scotland reported Alexander to the procurator fiscal for failing to publicly declare campaign donations. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7224739.stm Alexander reported over donations] , "BBC News Online", 3 February 2008]

cottish independence referendum

During a TV interview on 4 May 2008, Wendy Alexander performed a major U-turn on previous Scottish Labour Party's policy by seeming to endorse a referendum on Scottish Independence with the call to "bring it on!", despite previously refusing to support any referendum on the grounds that she did not support Independence.

During a further TV interview on 6 May 2008 she reiterated this commitment to a referendum and claimed that she had the full backing of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The following day, Gordon Brown when asked to confirm his backing for such a referendum during Prime Ministers Questions in Westminster denied flatly that this was Labour policy and that Wendy Alexander had been misrepresented. Despite this lack of backing, Wendy Alexander once again reiterated her commitment to a referendum during First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament. After a week of extremely bad press coverage for the Labour party, Wendy Alexander and Gordon Brown eventually issued harmonised statements claiming that the SNP's bluff had been called and that Labour could no longer be claimed to be denying the Scottish people a referendum vote on their future.

Resignation

On 28 June 2008, Wendy Alexander announced her resignation as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, due to pressure on her following the donation scandal. She said it was with "deep regret" that she was resigning following the decision of the Scottish Parliament's standards committee. She had come under pressure after breaking donation rules and faces a one-day ban from parliament. In her resignation statement, she claimed the breach of the rules was made in "good faith" and the decision of the committee was "partisan" but she respected parliamentary process. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7478913.stm Alexander quits as Labour leader] , "BBC News Online, 28 June 2008]

ee also

* List of Scottish Executive Ministerial Teams

References

External links

* [http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/wendy_alexander/index.htm Scottish Parliament biography]
* [http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/paisleynorth1/ Wendy Alexander MSP] Biography at the Labour party website
* [http://www.wendyalexandermsp.org.uk/ Wendy Alexander MSP]

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Template group
title = Wendy Alexander
titlestyle = style="background:#eee;
list = WestScotland MSPs Labour MSPs