Wendy Alexander

Wendy Alexander (born 27 June, 1963, Glasgow) is a Scottish Labour Party Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Paisley North.

Prior to entering the Scottish Parliament, Ms Alexander worked for The Labour Party as a research officer and for George Galloway MP - before going back to university. After her MBA she was then briefly a consultant for the international management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton. She was then 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, then as Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, and 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 and a regular column in the Daily Record, the main Labour supporting tabloid.

Alexander holds degrees from the University of Glasgow, the University of Warwick (industrial relations), and INSEAD (MBA).

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

Her father, the Reverend 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. Alexander continued the family connection when Donald Dewar, a book edited by her was published by Mainstream in 2005.

Alexander is not expected to be one of the front runners to succeed Jack McConnell as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party should McConnell stand down. At the 2007 election Alexander safely held her seat but then blew her leadership chances with an ill-judged Holyrood speech about 'a hungry caterpillar' that left most MSPs bemused.

Her strident poses in defence of The Union and visceral hatred of the SNP whenever she was asked to appear on BBC's 'Newsnight Scotland' turned many electors against the Labour Party in a close 2007 election won by SNP.

Since the 2007 election, Alexander has become Shadow Finance Secretary in Jack McConnell's Shadow Cabinet.

See also

List of Scottish Executive Ministerial Teams

External links

• Scottish Parliament biography
• Wendy Alexander MSP Biography at the Labour party website
• Wendy Alexander MSP