26 Facts About Wendy Alexander

Wendy Alexander was born on 27 June 1963 and is a retired Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley North.

Wendy Alexander held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2007 to 2008.

Wendy Alexander later gained a postgraduate MA in Industrial Relations from the University of Warwick, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Wendy Alexander was awarded an honorary degree from Strathclyde University in 2007.

Wendy Alexander was deeply involved in the preparation of the White Paper on devolution, the Scotland Act 1998 and preparations for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, all matters she had published on during the 1990s.

Wendy Alexander served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament from its creation in 1999 until 2011.

From 1999 to 2002 Wendy Alexander was a Scottish Government minister, first serving as Minister for Communities, then as Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, and subsequently as Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning.

Wendy Alexander oversaw the Scottish Executive's response to the recommendations of the McIntosh Commission into the future of local government in Scotland, introducing a package of measures for local government including giving local authorities the lead role in developing Community Planning, creating a formal Power of Community Initiative and establishing the Renewing Local Democracy Working Party on electoral systems.

Wendy Alexander launched Scotland's first ever Science strategy and developed a better pipeline to get ideas out of labs and into businesses, including the Proof of Concept Fund and the Scottish Co-Investment Fund to stimulate private venture capital investment in emerging businesses.

Wendy Alexander championed the first broadband strategy for Scotland and took action to tackle the 'digital divide'.

Wendy Alexander promoted a "learning, earning" nation including the doubling of the number of Modern Apprenticeships, jointly leading the Clyde Shipyards Taskforce to help modernise shipbuilding on the Clyde through investment in skills, and in the face of the global downturn in electronics hitting companies such as Motorola launched what became the PACE initiative to help those made redundant find work quickly.

Wendy Alexander extended Educational Maintenance Allowances to support pupils from low income families to complete their schooling.

Wendy Alexander launched a new international economic strategy for Scotland called Global Connections realigning Scotland's international economic effort with the Smart Successful Scotland strategy, bringing together Scotland's previously separate inward investment and export agencies into one organisation, Scotland Development International and created the Globalscot network to develop and expand Scotland's standing in the global business community.

Wendy Alexander inspired and led the Allander Series of seminars which had the aim of encouraging fresh thinking on Scotland's economic future.

Wendy Alexander laid out her vision to "Renew the party organisation, reform the policies, and reconnect the Labour Party in Scotland with its electorate".

Wendy Alexander made a speech at the University of Edinburgh on St Andrew's Day 2007 in which she set out the case for a wide-ranging review of the devolution settlement, with a view to identifying possible areas for reform.

Wendy Alexander said "Scotland wants to see a future that allows her to walk taller within the UK without walking out" and called for a new "expert-led and independent" Scottish constitutional commission.

On St Andrew's Day 2010, three years to the day after Wendy Alexander's call for a Commission, the UK Government introduced a new Scotland Bill.

However, the Electoral Commission concluded in February 2008 that Wendy Alexander had taken 'significant steps' to comply with funding regulations and decided there was no basis for further action.

Wendy Alexander had been told by the parliamentary authorities that there was no need to declare these donations as gifts.

Wendy Alexander subsequently stated it had been a mistake for her to take on the leadership of the Labour Party in Scotland while her children were so young.

From 2008 to 2011 Wendy Alexander served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee.

Wendy Alexander was convenor of the Scotland Bill Committee, which produced the report for the Scottish Parliament and UK Government in March 2011 proposing new powers for the Scottish Parliament.

Wendy Alexander stood down from Parliament in May 2011 to seek a new life outside active politics.

Wendy Alexander serves as a member of the Social Market Foundation's Advisory Board and Reform Scotland's Political Advisory Board.

Wendy Alexander is married to Elizabeth Ashcroft, an economist who came out as a transgender woman in September 2020.