Alex Wood (born 1950,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

) is a former

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

leader of

Edinburgh City Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is Subdivisions of Scotland#Council areas, the second most populo ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Biography

He was educated at

Paisley Grammar School Paisley Grammar School is a secondary school in Paisley, the largest town in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The school was founded in 1576 by royal charter of King James VI and is situated on Glasgow Road. The school is recognised as one of Scotland's ...

, the

New University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

Moray House College of Education The Moray House School of Education and Sport ('Moray House') is a school within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science at the University of Edinburgh. It is based in historic buildings on the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood Campus, l ...

, the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

and the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. He was a member of the Labour Party from 1969 until 1987. He was a member of the National Committee of the Labour Party Young Socialists from 1973 to 1975. In the early 1970s Wood was a leading figure in the

entryist Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, or infiltration) is a political strategy in which an organisation or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organization in an attempt to expand influence and expand the ...

Militant tendency The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyism, Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. According to Michael Crick, its politics were based on the t ...

in Scotland who left that party after it decided to support the creation of a

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

Scottish Assembly The Scottish Assembly was a proposed legislature for Scotland that would have devolved a set list of powers from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Labour Government led the Scotland Act 1978 through Westminster which provided for the ...

. Subsequently, he became a trenchant critic of Militant. He subsequently became a leading figure in the

Labour Co-ordinating Committee The Labour Co-ordinating Committee (LCC) was a faction in the British Labour Party, established in 1978 and wound-up in 1998. It moved from a group established to challenge the leadership of the party from the left to the vanguard of Tony Blair's ...

in Scotland and wrote its pamphlet on Labour and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was Labour Parliamentary candidate for

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

in 1979, and for West Edinburgh in 1983 (having been elected to Edinburgh District Council in 1980 and having become leader of the Edinburgh District Council Labour Group in 1982) and in May 1984 became leader of the first ever

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster Mark Lazarowicz Mark Lazarowicz ( ; born Marek Lazarowicz; 8 August 1953) is a British Labour Co-operative politician and lawyer who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh North and Leith from 2001 to 2015. Early life Lazarowicz was born in Romfor ...

. Subsequently, Wood resigned his council seat, left Labour and joined the 1988 version of the Scottish Socialist Party. Shortly after the demise of the SSP, Wood joined the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

. A teacher by profession, he retired as headteacher of

Wester Hailes Education Centre Wester Hailes High School is a mixed non-denominational high school in Wester Hailes, in the South-West suburb of Edinburgh. The current principal is David Young and the roll is about 303. In addition to the school on the site, there is a swimming ...

in Edinburgh in August 2011. He had also been seconded (2008–09) as Headteacher to

Tynecastle High School Tynecastle High School is a secondary school in the Gorgie area of south west Edinburgh, Scotland. History Tynecastle High School was opened in 1912 and was for its first 98 years located at 15 McLeod Street, a B listed building. Move to new ...

. He writes on educational issues in The Herald, and writes regular columns on educational matters in SecEd,

Holyrood Magazine ''Holyrood'' is a fortnightly current affairs and politics magazine. Created following the advent of devolution in the UK in 1999 the magazine provides coverage of the goings on at the Scottish Parliament, as well as interviews with leading pol ...

, the Times Educational Supplement Scotland and contributes to the Scottish Review, Lothian Life and the

Caledonian Mercury The ''Caledonian Mercury'' was a Scottish newspaper, published three times a week between 1720 and 1867. In 2010 an online publication launched using the name. 17th century A short-lived predecessor, the ''Mercurius Caledonius'', published for j ...

."Caledonian Mercury", 9 August 2011 et seq: http://www.caledonianmercury.com/2011/08/09/

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Alex 1950 births Living people Scottish Labour councillors Militant tendency supporters Alumni of Ulster University People educated at Paisley Grammar School Politicians from Dundee Councillors in Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Stirling Scottish National Party politicians Scottish schoolteachers