Macintosh became Deputy Convenor on the Standards Committee but had to resign from this position in 2005 after it was revealed he had failed to declare £330 of hospitality from McDonald's within the required time.[8]
In 2006 and 2007 Macintosh has proposed a Member's Bill to the Scottish Parliament providing for the tougher regulation of sunbedparlours,which passed successfully.[9] Since his election in 1999 has been a member of the cross-party group on cancer.[10] From February 2007 to April 2007,he was a ministerial parliamentary aide to First MinisterJack McConnell.[11]
At the 2011 parliamentary election he once again defeated Jackson Carlaw with an increased majority of 2,012. The swing was 8.7% from Conservative to Labour.[14] Macintosh had feared losing the constituency following boundary changes[15] (with the removal of Barrhead,Neilston and Uplawmoor) which gave a notional Conservative majority of almost 3,500.[16] After the party's loss to the SNP,Macintosh was made Shadow Culture and External Affairs Secretary.[17] Only a week later,however,he took over the Shadow Education portfolio after MSP Malcolm Chisholm resigned over an internal party disagreement.[18]
2011 and 2015 Scottish Labour Party leadership elections
Macintosh announced his candidacy in 2011 Scottish Labour leadership election. During a September 2011 BBC Scotland TV interview,Labour leader Ed Miliband was unable to recall Macintosh's name.[19] After the interview,Miliband telephoned to apologise for his mistake and Macintosh tried to downplay the incident saying "I don't think anyone should read anything into it –half the time I can't even remember the names of my own kids."[20] Macintosh officially launched his campaign at Cumbernauld College on 28 October. He described the 2011 election result as a "disaster" and said the party had been too negative:"We need to unite as a party and to start talking positively about our values,what Labour stands for and not just what we are against."[21][22] He later also said he was a devolutionist,not a unionist.[23][24] Despite lacking ministerial experience,he was widely seen as a frontrunner.[25] Colleagues who endorsed his bid included his campaign manager Michael McMahon,Claire Baker,Mary Fee,Neil Bibby,Mark Griffin,Kezia Dugdale,Jenny Marra and East Renfrewshire MP Jim Murphy,with whom Macintosh shared his constituency office in Clarkston,East Renfrewshire.[26][27] In the ensuing leadership election,Macintosh came second to MSP Johann Lamont.[28]
At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election,Macintosh lost the Eastwood constituency,being pushed into third place behind the Conservatives' Jackson Carlaw and the Scottish National Party's Stewart Maxwell. However,Macintosh was returned as an additional member on Scottish Labour's West Scotland regional list.[32]
On 12 May 2016,Macintosh was elected as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament with 71 votes on the third round of voting by MSPs. He defeated Murdo Fraser,Johann Lamont,John Scott and Elaine Smith. He suspended his Scottish Labour Co-operative membership upon taking office,per the tradition of the presiding officer being strictly non-partisan.
In early November 2018,Macintosh created controversy when an MSP was sent out of the Holyrood chamber for wearing a rainbow tie in support of LGBTI rights and liberation. Alex Cole-Hamilton,Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh Western,was told to change the garment by Macintosh during a debate on LGBTI-inclusive education in schools. Macintosh said it flouted rules against "ostentatious campaign material" in the chamber.[33]
In September 2020,Macintosh announced that he would not stand for re-election at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. In a letter to his constituents,he said:"After much reflection,I have decided not to seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament in May next year. It has been an honour to represent the people of East Renfrewshire and the West of Scotland for the last two decades and I would thank you for the trust you have placed in me."[34]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
