Iain Gray

Iain Gray
Gray in 2008
Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
Acting 13 June 2015 – 15 August 2015
UK party leader	Harriet Harman (acting)
Preceded by	Jim Murphy
Succeeded by	Kezia Dugdale
In office 13 September 2008 – 17 December 2011
Deputy	Johann Lamont
UK party leader	Gordon Brown Harriet Harman (acting) Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Wendy Alexander
Succeeded by	Johann Lamont
Ministerial offices Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning In office 3 May 2002 – 21 May 2003 First Minister Jack McConnell Preceded by Wendy Alexander Succeeded by Jim Wallace Minister for Social Justice In office 22 November 2001 – 3 May 2002 First Minister Jack McConnell Preceded by Jackie Baillie Succeeded by Margaret Curran
Parliamentary offices Leader of the Opposition in Scotland In office 13 June 2015 – 15 August 2015 Monarch Elizabeth II First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Kezia Dugdale Succeeded by Kezia Dugdale In office 13 September 2008 – 17 December 2011 Monarch Elizabeth II First Minister Alex Salmond Preceded by Cathy Jamieson Succeeded by Johann Lamont Member of the Scottish Parliament for East Lothian In office 3 May 2007 – 6 May 2021 Preceded by John Home Robertson Succeeded by Paul McLennan Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Pentlands In office 6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by David McLetchie Scottish Labour portfolios 2014–2021 Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills[a] 2007-2008 Shadow Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
Personal details
Born	(1957-06-07) 7 June 1957 (age 67) Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party	Scottish Labour
Spouse	Gillianne McCormack[1]
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh

Iain Cumming Gray (born 7 June 1957) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 to 2011. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the East Lothian constituency from 2007 to 2021, having previously represented Edinburgh Pentlands from 1999 to 2003. A former aid worker and teacher of mathematics and physics, Gray was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as MSP for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, which he lost to Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party David McLetchie in 2003. Gray was returned to Holyrood in 2007 as MSP for East Lothian. Following Wendy Alexander's resignation as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party in 2008, Gray stood at the subsequent leadership election, and was elected with a 57.8% share of the vote in the second round.

Initially, Gray oversaw some electoral successes for Scottish Labour, such as repelling SNP challenges at the Glenrothes (2008) and Glasgow North East (2009) by-elections, as well as seeing Scottish Labour retain all their 41 seats in the House of Commons at the 2010 general election; despite the election overall resulting in the first UK hung parliament in 36 years, and the Labour Party being defeated after thirteen years in government. The 2011 Scottish Parliament election proved disastrous for the party, which lost 20 constituencies (7 seats overall) as the SNP won an outright majority of seats. Gray himself was only re-elected as MSP for East Lothian with a narrow majority of 151 votes. Gray announced his resignation the day after the result, but remained in post as leader until his successor, Johann Lamont, took over on 17 December 2011.

Due to his experience, Gray was appointed as Acting Leader of the Scottish Labour Party while a leadership and a deputy leadership election were being simultaneously held, on account of deputy leader Kezia Dugdale resigning to run for the leadership and the resignation of previous leader Jim Murphy after Scottish Labour's landslide defeat at the 2015 general election.

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