Jump to content

Alex Rowley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alex Rowley
MSP
Rowley in 2020
Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
Acting
29 August 2017 – 15 November 2017
UK party leaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byKezia Dugdale
Succeeded byJackie Baillie(acting)
Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
In office
15 August 2015 – 16 December 2017
LeaderKezia Dugdale
Preceded byKezia Dugdale
Succeeded byLesley Laird
Member of the Scottish Parliament
forMid Scotland and Fife
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2016
Member of the Scottish Parliament
forCowdenbeath
In office
23 January 2014 – 23 March 2016
Preceded byHelen Eadie
Succeeded byAnnabelle Ewing
Scottish Labour portfolios
2016–2017Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Community, Social Security and Equalities
2018–2019Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government
2019–2020Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Brexit and the Constitution
2021–presentShadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity
Personal details
Born
Alexander Andrew Penman Rowley

(1963-11-30)30 November 1963(age 60)
Dunfermline,Scotland,UK
Political partyScottish Labour
Children3, includingDanielle
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
WebsiteOfficial website

Alexander Andrew Penman Rowley(born 30 November 1963) is a Scottish politician who served asDeputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Partyfrom 2015 to 2017 and actingleader of the partyfrom August to November 2017. He has been aMember of the Scottish Parliament(MSP) since2014,firstly for theCowdenbeathconstituency and theMid Scotland and Fiferegion since2016.He has been described as being on thepolitical leftof the party.

Born inDunfermline,Rowley studiedcommunity educationat theUniversity of Edinburghbefore serving asGeneral Secretary of the Scottish Labour Partyand onFife Council.First elected to theScottish Parliamentat aby-election in January 2014,he lostCowdenbeathtoAnnabelle Ewingof theSNPat the2016 election.However, he was returned as anadditional memberforMid Scotland and Fife.

Following the resignation ofKezia Dugdale,he served as actingLeader of the Scottish Labour Partyduring the2017 Scottish Labour leadership election.He served asShadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Governmentfrom 2018 to 2019 andShadow Cabinet Secretary for Brexit and Constitutional Relationsfrom 2019 to 2020. He is currentlyShadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity.

Early life

[edit]

Born inDunfermlineand raised inKelty,Rowley was educated atSt Columba's High Schoolin Dunfermline.[1]He studied for an MA Honours in sociology and politics atNewbattle Abbey CollegeinDalkeithand theUniversity of Edinburghand later for an MSc incommunity educationat Edinburgh.[2]

Political career

[edit]

Rowley wasGeneral Secretary of the Scottish Labour Partyfor one year, from May 1998 to May 1999. He was first elected toFife Regional Councilin 1990 when he was Chairman of Finance, and he later became the first leader of the newFife Council,a position he returned to in 2012 until his election to the Scottish Parliament in 2014.[citation needed]

Prior to his election to theScottish Parliament,Rowley was aFife Councilmember (re-elected in 2007) and Labour Council Group Leader.[3]He worked as an education official with theTUCand worked for five years as an assistant, election agent and constituency manager toGordon Brown,formerPrime Minister of the United Kingdom.Despite being on thepolitical left-wingof the party, he was considered Brown'sright-hand manandprotégé(Brown was one ofTony Blair's key partners during theNew Labourera).[4][5][6]He stood in the2011 Scottish Parliament electionas a Labour candidate forDunfermline.

Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party

[edit]

Rowley declared his candidacy for the Scottish Labour Party's2015 deputy leadership election,and was supported in his candidacy by trade unionsASLEF,CWU,NUM,Scottish Co-Operative Party,Socialist Health Association,TSSA,UCATT,andUNISON.He comfortably won the first round preferences of votes from the labour party membership and secured victory with over half the votes in the second round of voting. He was elected on 15 August 2015.[7]Following Kezia Dugdale's resignation, he took over as actingLeader of the Scottish Labour Party,until the new leader was elected.[8]

In September 2017, a leaked recording that was taken without permission and sold toThe Scottish Sun,featuring Rowley at theLabour Party ConferenceinBrighton,led to accusations of a plot to oust Dugdale and replace her withRichard Leonard.Rowley said he backed Leonard to become leader to a member of the public, as well as party member, in a conversation that turned out to be a freelance journalist secretly recording the conversation undercover. Rowley had stated he would remain neutral, but was unaware of being recorded by what turned out to be a journalist trying to sell a story. He apologised for the leaked recording, but strenuously denied being involved in or even aware of any plots within the Labour Party to remove Dugdale.[9]

Shadow Cabinet

[edit]

From October 2018 to September 2019, Rowley served asScottish Labour Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government.[10]During the 2019 Scottish budget process, Rowley was reprimanded by the Scottish Labour leader due to Rowley's personal discussions with the SNP Finance Secretary about supporting the budget in exchange for cuts to local government being substituted for Higher Education cuts in breach of Scottish Labour Party policy and undermining the budget spokespersonJames Kelly.[11]

Rowley becameScottish Labour Spokesperson for Brexit and Constitutional Relationsin September 2019.[12]In November 2020, he was moved to the role of shadow economy minister.[13]He nominatedMonica Lennonin the2021 Scottish Labour leadership election.[14]AfterAnas Sarwarwon the leadership election, he promoted Rowley to ShadowCabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity.[15]

Personal life

[edit]

Rowley has three adult children, a granddaughter, and a grandson. He is the father ofDanielle Rowley,who served asMPforMidlothianfrom the2017 general electionuntil the2019 general election.

On 15 November 2017, Rowley resigned as deputy leader and referred himself to an internal investigation after a former partner took to theScottish Sunto accuse him of sending her disrespectful text messages four years previously.[16]Former Scottish Labour leaderKezia Dugdaleand leadership candidateAnas Sarwarcalled for Rowley to be suspended from the party while the investigation was carried out.[17][18]Rowley claimed there was a determined attempt to use the media to damage him and his family for political purposes. The investigation concluded there was no case to answer as the party had not received a formal complaint. A party spokesperson added: "The party was approached by newspapers with unsubstantiated claims, with no evidence shared with the Labour party prior to publication in theSunnewspaper. "[19]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"School Visits – Alex Rowley MSP".18 December 2020. Archived fromthe originalon 18 December 2020.
  2. ^"BMMS May 1999".Artsweb.bham.ac.uk.Retrieved15 February2012.
  3. ^"Labour denies London control claim".BBC News.
  4. ^"Home of the Daily and Sunday Express".Express.co.uk. 1 May 2011.Retrieved15 February2012.
  5. ^Jack O'Sullivan Scotland Correspondent (21 May 1999)."Parliament: Scotland: Labour sacks Scots party chief".The Independent.London, UK.Archivedfrom the original on 16 December 2013.Retrieved15 February2012.{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help)
  6. ^"Kezia Dugdale steps down as Scottish Labour's leader".The Economist.2 September 2017.
  7. ^"Dugdale named Scottish Labour leader".BBC News.15 August 2015.Retrieved25 January2019.
  8. ^"Kezia Dugdale quits as Scottish Labour leader".29 August 2017 – via bbc.co.uk.
  9. ^"Rowley 'gutted' over leadership row tape".28 September 2017.Retrieved28 January2019.
  10. ^"Scottish Labour's Shadow Cabinet".Scottish Labour.4 October 2018.Retrieved28 January2019.
  11. ^"Scottish Labour leader urged to sack colleague over Budget 'humiliation'".HeraldScotland.Retrieved8 July2019.
  12. ^"Scottish Labour reshuffle as Sarah Boyack returns to frontline politics".www.scotsman.com.Retrieved3 September2019.
  13. ^"Anas Sarwar returns to Labour frontbench in reshuffle".STV News.16 November 2020.Retrieved2 December2020.
  14. ^"Scottish Leadership Election 2021 – Nominations".Scottish Labour.Retrieved26 January2021.
  15. ^Rodgers, Sienna (1 March 2021)."Sarwar unveils new 'campaign cabinet' to lead Scottish Labour into election".LabourList.Archivedfrom the original on 1 March 2021.Retrieved2 March2021.
  16. ^"Alex Rowley steps down as interim Scottish Labour leader".Holyrood Website.4 October 2019.Retrieved9 October2020.
  17. ^Eardley, Nick [@nickeardleybbc] (15 November 2017)."Kezia Dugdale says Alex Rowley should be suspended by party https://t.co/3Gref5pBKM"(Tweet).Retrieved4 January2021– viaTwitter.
  18. ^Samson, Kathryn [@STVKathryn] (15 November 2017)."@AnasSarwar calls for Alex Rowley to be suspended while investigation carried out. https://t.co/zaSdSF4QfW"(Tweet).Retrieved4 January2021– viaTwitter.
  19. ^"Labour received" no formal complaint "about Alex Rowley".Holyrood Magazine.16 November 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 21 April 2019.Retrieved28 January2019.
[edit]
Party political offices
Preceded by General Secretary ofScottish Labour
1998–1999 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Leader ofScottish Labour
2015–2017 		Succeeded by
Lesley Laird(interim)
Leader ofScottish Labour
Acting
2017 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alex_Rowley&oldid=1214465138"