Derek Mackay

Derek Mackay
Mackay in 2016
Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work
In office 26 June 2018 – 6 February 2020
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Deputy	Kate Forbes
Preceded by	Himself (Finance) Keith Brown (Economy, Jobs and Fair Work)
Succeeded by	Kate Forbes (Finance) Fiona Hyslop (Economy, Fair Work and Culture)
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution
In office 18 May 2016 – 26 June 2018
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	John Swinney
Succeeded by	Himself (Finance) Michael Russell (Constitution)
Junior ministerial offices Minister for Transport and Islands In office 21 November 2014 – 18 May 2016 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Keith Brown Succeeded by Humza Yousaf Minister for Local Government and Planning In office 7 December 2011 – 21 November 2014 First Minister Alex Salmond Preceded by Aileen Campbell Succeeded by Marco Biagi
Further offices held Chairman and Business Convener of the Scottish National Party In office 18 June 2011 – October 2018 Leader Alex Salmond Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Bruce Crawford Succeeded by Kirsten Oswald Member of the Scottish Parliament for Renfrewshire North and West In office 5 May 2011 – 5 May 2021 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Natalie Don
Personal details
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Independent (from 2020) SNP (until 2020)[1]
Children	2
Residence	Bishopton, Renfrewshire

Derek Mackay (born 1977)^[2] is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution from 2016 to 2018 and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work from 2018 to 2020. A former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Renfrewshire North and West from 2011 to 2021.

Raised in Renfrewshire, Mackay studied social work at the University of Glasgow but dropped out. He was elected to Renfrewshire Council in 1999 and was Leader of the Council from 2007 to 2011. Elected to the Scottish Parliament at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, he served as Minister for Transport and Islands from 2011 to 2014 and Minister for Local Government and Planning from 2014 to 2016, as well as Chairman and Business Convener of the Scottish National Party from 2011 to 2018.

Mackay became Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution in 2016, succeeding Deputy First Minister John Swinney. In 2018, during a Cabinet reshuffle, Mackay's post was enlarged, absorbing the responsibilities of the previous role of Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work to become Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work. In February 2020, he resigned as Finance Secretary after the Scottish Sun reported he had messaged a 16-year-old boy on social media, describing the boy as "cute" and offering to meet with him. He was also suspended from the SNP and sat as an independent MSP for the remainder of the 2016 parliamentary term, which ended on 25 March 2021.

Early life and career[]

Mackay attended Kirklandneuk Primary School and Renfrew High School.^[3] He later studied at the University of Glasgow, pursuing but ultimately abandoning a course in social work.^[4] He joined the SNP at 16 and was involved in both the youth, where he served as National Convener from 1998–2002, and student movements.^[3] He was first elected as a councillor for Renfrewshire Council at the age of 21 in 1999, making him at the time the youngest male councillor in Scotland.^[3]

Political career[]

Mackay was first elected as a councillor in 1999, representing the Blythswood Ward on Renfrewshire Council. After his election in 1999, he won three successive ward elections and became leader of Renfrewshire Council in May 2007, taking the SNP from opposition to lead the administration for the first time.^[5]

He became a national figure in local government, leading the SNP group in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) from 2009 to 2011.^[5] He coordinated the SNP campaign in the 2012 Scottish local government elections and the 2017 general election.^[6]

At the 2011 election, Mackay was adopted for the new constituency of Renfrewshire North and West while also being placed third on the SNP regional list for West Scotland region. Upon his election as the constituency MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, he was placed on the Finance Committee and also appointed as the SNP's Business Convener and Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy Bruce Crawford MSP.^{[citation needed]}

Following a mini-reshuffle Mackay replaced Aileen Campbell as Minister for Local Government and Planning on 7 December 2011. When Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister of Scotland he was appointed as Minister for Transport and Islands.^[7]

Following the Scottish Parliament election in 2016, Mackay was promoted to the Scottish Cabinet to serve as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution.^[5] After a reshuffle in June 2018, Economy and Fair Work was added to his portfolio.^[5]

In June 2011, Mackay was appointed as the SNP's Business Convener (party chair), succeeding Bruce Crawford. The Business Convener is responsible for chairing the SNP's Party Conference and the National Executive Committee; overseeing the party's management, administration and operations, as well as the coordination of election campaigns; working with the Chief Executive of Headquarters in setting priorities. Mackay stepped down from the role in October 2018.^{[citation needed]}

Resignation[]

On 5 February 2020, the Scottish Sun alerted the office of Nicola Sturgeon about a story they were planning to run revealing Mackay had sent a 16-year-old boy messages via Facebook and Instagram in which he described the boy as "cute" and offered to meet up with the boy in person.^{[8][9][10][11]} The paper told the BBC they had been approached by the boy's mother who had become aware of the messages in the week prior.^[9]

The Scottish Government was accused of trying to stop publication of the Scottish Sun article, questioning the "justification" of intruding into Mackay's private life and claiming the Scottish Sun had a “moral obligation" to share the material in order for them "to offer any form of substantive response or view". The paper defended its position, stating that Alan Muir, its Scottish editor, had read out the "most significant and damaging messages" to Sturgeon’s office in two 15-minute phone conversations.^[8]

On 6 February, Mackay resigned hours before the Scottish budget was due to be announced. Sturgeon announced he had been suspended from the SNP and she had accepted his resignation, recognising his "significant contribution to government" but admitting his behaviour "failed to meet the standards required". Scottish Conservative acting leader Jackson Carlaw suggested the messages could "constitute the grooming of a young individual" and called for Mackay to resign from the Scottish Parliament.^[10]

On 8 February, Police Scotland said that it had spoken to the schoolboy and that while it had not "received any complaint of criminality", it was "assessing available information".^[12] It subsequently announced that it had reviewed the case and that Mackay would not face any charges, as no laws had been broken with 16 being of age in Scotland.^[13]

Mackay sat as an Independent for the rest of 2016-21 parliament term and stood down as an MSP when it ended on 5 May 2021.^[14]

Personal life[]

Mackay came out as gay in 2013 and separated from his wife.^[15] They have two sons together.^[16]

Mackay lives in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, with his partner. He is involved with the Paisley Fairtrade Partnership, and is a member of CND and Amnesty International.^[17] He was the Honorary Vice President of the Battalion for Paisley and District Boys' Brigade,^[18] until being sacked from the position following his resignation scandal.^[19]

In February 2020, it was reported by a former senior SNP staff member that Nicola Sturgeon had banned Mackay from drinking at SNP conferences, because of reports around his behaviour. Mackay joked to attendees at the 2017 party conference that they would not see him later as, "Nicola won't let me".^[20][8] It was also reported that Mackay had sent unwanted private social media messages to a teenage boy aged 16 in 2016, which continued over the next four years.^[8][21]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Derek Mackay.

• Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Derek Mackay
• personal website
• "Derek Mackay MSP". Scottish National Party. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017.