Henry McLeish

The Right Honourable Henry McLeish
Official portrait, 2000
First Minister of Scotland
In office 27 October 2000 – 8 November 2001
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Jim Wallace
Preceded by	Donald Dewar[a]
Succeeded by	Jack McConnell[b]
Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland[c]
In office 27 October 2000 – 8 November 2001[d]
Deputy	Cathy Jamieson
UK party leader	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Donald Dewar
Succeeded by	Jack McConnell[e]
Ministerial offices Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning In office 19 May 1999 – 26 October 2000 First Minister Donald Dewar Jim Wallace (Acting) Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Wendy Alexander Minister of State for Scotland In office 6 May 1997 – 29 June 1999 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by James Douglas-Hamilton Succeeded by Brian Wilson
Parliamentary offices Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Fife In office 6 May 1999 – 31 March 2003 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Christine May Member of Parliament for Central Fife In office 11 June 1987 – 14 May 2001 Preceded by Willie Hamilton Succeeded by John MacDougall
Personal details
Born	Henry Baird McLeish (1948-06-15) 15 June 1948 (age 76) Methil, Fife, Scotland
Political party	Scottish Labour
Spouses	Margaret Drysdale ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1995)​ Julie Fulton ​ ​ (m. 1998; div. 2011)​ Caryn Nicolson ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	4
Parent(s)	Harry McLeish (father) Mary Slaven Baird (mother)
Education	Buckhaven High School
Alma mater	Heriot-Watt University
Occupation	Politician Footballer Author Academic
Cabinet	McLeish government
Association football career Position(s) Wing half[1] Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1963 Leeds United 0 (0) 1963–1968 East Fife 83 (2) International career 1966 Scotland U18 1 *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Henry Baird McLeish (born 15 June 1948) is a Scottish politician, author, academic and former professional footballer who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2000 to 2001. With a term of 1 year, 12 days, he is the shortest serving holder of that office. He served as the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2000 to 2001.

This article is part of a series about Henry McLeish
Scottish Labour Party Scottish devolution British House of Commons MP for Central Fife Minister of State for Scotland 1997 Scottish devolution referendum Scotland Act 1998 Scottish Parliament MSP for Central Fife Dewar government Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning First Minister of Scotland Premiership International visits Tenure 2000 leadership bid McCrone Agreement Resignation Officegate
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Born and raised into a Labour supporting coal mining family in Fife, McLeish dropped out of Buckhaven High School at the age of fifteen to pursue a professional career in football. Playing wing half, he was first signed for Leeds United F.C., but after experiencing homesickness, McLeish returned to his native of Fife to play for East Fife F.C.. Making more than 108 appearances, he was one of the youngest ever players to play in Scottish professional football. McLeish's career was cut short after an injury and he returned to education, studying at Heriot-Watt University.

McLeish joined the Labour Party in 1970 and was later elected to the Fife Regional Council, where he served as the council's leader from 1982 to 1987. After several unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the British House of Commons, McLeish was successful in the 1987 general election, when he was elected as member of parliament for Central Fife. He served successively in Labour's opposition benches for ten years, before being appointed minister of state for Scotland under Prime Minister Tony Blair following the party's landslide victory in the 1997 election. McLeish served as Donald Dewar's 'right-hand man' in the Scottish Office and was instrumental in assisting Dewar with the creation of the Scotland Act which established the Scottish Parliament. In the first election to the parliament in 1999, he was elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament for the Central Fife constituency. Following the appointment as Dewar as the inaugural first minister of Scotland, he served in the first Scottish Executive as the minister for enterprise and lifelong learning from 1999 to 2000.

Dewar died in office of a brain haemorrhage on 11 October 2000, which triggered a leadership contest within the Labour Party to find a successor, with McLeish declaring his candidacy. He led a successful and short campaign after defeating finance minister Jack McConnell. McLeish was sworn into office as first minister of Scotland on 26 October 2000. He oversaw the implementation of the McCrone Agreement for teachers in Scotland and strongly advocated free personal care for the elderly scheme. His tenure as first minister was short, as he resigned the following year following a financial scandal referred to as "Officegate"; the first major scandal the Scottish Parliament had faced since its reincarnation two years earlier. He was succeeded by McConnell, who he had beaten in the previous leadership election. McLeish sat as a backbencher, before stepping down as an MSP at the 2003 election.

Since leaving office, McLeish has remained politically active and has written several books. In 2007, he was appointed to the Scottish Broadcasting Commission and the following year he chaired the Scottish Prisons Commission.^[2] In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he campaigned in favour of remaining in the UK. However, following the Brexit referendum, McLeish stated he would back another Scottish independence referendum if Scotland was taken out of the EU against its wishes.

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