Neil Charles Gray (born 16 March 1986) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery,Health and Social Care since 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Airdrie &Shotts since 2021. Gray previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the equivalent Westminster seat from 2015 to 2021. He served as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy,Fair Work and Energy from 2023 to 2024,and Minister for Culture,Europe and International Development from 2022 to 2023.
Gray was born and brought up in Orkney,and was educated at Kirkwall Grammar School. [1] He graduated from the University of Stirling in 2008 with a first-class Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in politics and journalism. [2]
Following his graduation,Gray was employed as a producer and reporter with BBC Radio Orkney from 2003 until 2008.[ citation needed ]
Gray worked as a press and research intern for the SNP parliamentary group at the Scottish Parliament. [3] Gray was also employed by Alex Neil MSP from 2008,being appointed as constituency office manager in 2011. [3]
The selection process for the Airdrie SNP candidacy,which Neil Gray ultimately won,was not without controversy. Former diplomat Craig Murray was nominated as a potential candidate at an Airdrie Branch meeting but did not make the final list as he failed SNP candidate vetting,whereupon he commented that "I think in both Airdrie &Shotts and in Falkirk it's evident who the party hierarchy wants to be the candidate." [4] Former Policeman and SNP Councillor Alan Beveridge resigned from the party in February 2015 after Neil Gray was selected,claiming that there was a "climate of fear,intimidation and false allegations within the party" which were highlighted in the selection process. [5] [6]
In September 2016,Gray as a member of the new Joint Committee on the Palace of Westminster proposed "the Joint Committee declines to consider a draft Report until it has given full consideration to the possibility of constructing a permanent new Parliamentary building,while finding an alternative future use for the Palace of Westminster;notes that this option was included in the Pre-Feasibility Study and Preliminary Strategic Business Case published in October 2012 but was rejected by the House of Commons Commission and the House of Lords House Committee at that stage;and resolves to apply the same rigorous scrutiny to the possible construction of a new Parliamentary building as it has applied to the other options for delivering the Restoration and Renewal Programme,before making a recommendation about the best option for carrying out the works"; [7] the committee voted 11–1 against this proposal.
In 2017,he held Airdrie and Shotts with a significantly reduced majority of 195 votes,although he did increase that in the 2019 general election to a stronger majority of 5,000 votes over the second-placed Labour candidate.[ citation needed ]
Gray has campaigned extensively in support of Roadchef employees,and former employees,who have waited over 20 years for the repayment of money wrongly appropriated by former executive Tim Ingram Hill. [8] On 8 January 2020,he questioned the Prime Minister on the issue,receiving an assurance that the Chancellor would "discuss" the matter with him. [9]
In November 2020,Gray announced that he would be resigning as an MP in order to try and win a seat in the Scottish Parliament at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. [10] On 23 March 2021,he made his final speech in the House of Commons, [11] and was appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead a day later. He is the only SNP member to have held that notional office. [12] North Lanarkshire Council calculated that his decision to resign as an MP and trigger a by-election cost taxpayers £175,000. [13]
On 7 May 2021,Gray was elected as the MSP for Airdrie and Shotts,finishing ahead of former Scottish Labour leader,Richard Leonard. [14] Following his election,Gray said,as deputy convener of his the SNP's Social Justice and Fairness Commission,that a couple with two children in an independent Scotland could be guaranteed a minimum income of £37,000 annually by the state. He admitted that he had not costed the proposal. [15]
In a ministerial reshuffle on 24 January 2022,Gray was appointed as Minister for Culture,Europe and International Development. [16] [17]
Outside politics Gray was formerly a keen athlete,representing Scotland in the 400 m,until a serious knee injury ended his career in athletics. [18]
Neil has three daughters and one son with his wife,Karlie. [19] [20]
Alexander Neil 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 was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency from 2011 until his retirement in 2021.
Angus Struan Carolus Robertson is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution,External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2016 to 2018,he has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Central since 2021. Robertson previously served as a Westminster MP for Moray from 2001 to 2017,where he served from 2007 to 2017 as the Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons.
Airdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the UK House of Commons,located in central Scotland within the North Lanarkshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
Scottish Labour,officially the Scottish Labour Party,is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist,it holds 22 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 2 of 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is represented by 262 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland. The Scottish Labour party has no separate Chief Whip at Westminster.
Airdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of North Lanarkshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region,which elects seven additional members,in addition to the nine constituency MSPs,to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Andrew Paton Welsh was a Scottish politician. He was the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for South Angus from October 1974 to 1979,East Angus from 1987 to 1997,and Angus from 1997 to 2001. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the constituency of Angus from 1999 to 2011.
Karen Whitefield is a Scottish Labour politician. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency from 1999 to 2011.
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Pamela Nash is a British Labour Party politician,who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Airdrie and Shotts between 2010 and 2015. She is currently the Chief Executive of Scotland in Union,a campaign group launched in March 2015 to help keep Scotland within the United Kingdom. During her time in Parliament,she was the youngest MP in the House of Commons.
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Events from the year 2021 in Scotland.
The 2021 Airdrie and Shotts by-election was held in the UK parliament constituency of Airdrie and Shotts following the resignation of the sitting member (MP),Neil Gray,to run for the corresponding seat in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. This was necessitated by Scottish National Party (SNP) rules banning its members from sitting as an MSP and an MP at the same time. It took place on 13 May 2021,a week after the Scottish Parliament elections,to reduce COVID-19 transmission risk.
Anum Qaisar,previously Anum Qaisar-Javed is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Airdrie and Shotts since 2021. She has been SNP Spokesperson for Levelling Up since 2023.