Iain Gray

Iain Gray ( born June 7, 1957 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish politician and member of the Labour Party.

Gray attended Inverness Royal Academy and George Watson's college in Edinburgh. He then went to the University of Edinburgh and graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics from. At Moray House Gray then acquired the right to teach and was subsequently at the Mount Grace High School in Edinburgh working as a mathematics and physics teacher. At the time of the civil war in Mozambique, he taught there at an agricultural technical school. He then joined for twelve years the Scottish branch of Oxfam and worked among others in Cambodia and Zimbabwe.

Political career

For the first time Gray joined the Scottish Parliament elections 1999 to national elections. He applied for the direct mandate of the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency and was the choice before the Conservatives David McLetchie decide for themselves. In the newly formed government Gray took a different post. First, he was appointed Deputy Secretary for Health, then the end of the year 2000 was deputy assistant secretary for health and a year later, Secretary of State for Social Justice. From May 2002 to the end of the legislative term he finally held the post of secretary of state for business, transport and lifelong learning. In the 2003 parliamentary elections Gray lost his mandate to David McLetchie and retired from the Parliament from. He went to London and worked for the House of Representatives Alistair Darling. At the 2007 parliamentary elections Gray succeeds John Home Robertson and stood as a candidate in the constituency of East Lothian. He won the direct mandate and took the position of Minister of Finance in the shadow cabinet of the Labour party. In 2008 he was elected party leader and thus replaced the retiring Wendy Alexander from. In the elections in 2011, Gray defended his position with only 151 -vote lead just before the candidate SNP. Subsequently, he joined the end of the year down as party chief. Johann Lamont has been elected as his successor.