Duncan McNeil (born 7 September 1950) is a

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

politician. He was the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency from 1999 until 2016.

Career

Born in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

, McNeil worked as a boilermaker at

Scott Lithgow Scott Lithgow, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company. History The Company was formed in 1967 by the merger of Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Lithgows. Scott Lithgow was based in Port Glasgow and Greenock on the lower Clyde ...

from 1965 to 1979, initially as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

. After working as a co-ordinator for the Unemployed Workers Centres in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

he became a full-time official in the

GMB Union The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

in 1981 and later a regional organiser. For six years prior to his election from his current constituency, in May 1999, he was on the Labour Party's

Scottish Executive Committee The Organisation of Scottish Labour is a body established under the Labour Party Rule Book, national rules of the Labour Party (UK), UK Labour Party. Timeline Origins and evolution of Scottish Labour * In August 1888, after contesting the 18 ...

. McNeil served on the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee for 15 months and went on to become Labour's

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

. He was elected to the

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) is a body of the Scottish Parliament responsible for the administration of the parliament. It also has a role in provision of services to commissioners and other statutory appointments made by the ...

in December 2001. Following re-election in May 2003, Mr McNeil departed the Whips' Office to be Chair of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party. Additionally, he became convener of the Local Government and Communities Committee. He caused controversy in 2006 when suggesting in a parliamentary debate that oral contraceptives should be added to prescribed methadone for drug addicts in order to limit the number of children born to parents with a history of substance abuse. He has been a vocal campaigner for tougher penalties for

knife crime Knife legislation is defined as the legislation, body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, ...

and for better support and protection for vulnerable children.

External links

Duncan McNeil's Website
* * https://www.theyworkforyou.com/msp/duncan_mcneil * http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpc=Greenock+and+Inverclyde&house=scotland * https://web.archive.org/web/20110506142811/http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/msp/duncan_mcneil/764/ * http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/32616.stm 1950 births Living people Scottish trade unionists People from Greenock Labour MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 British boilermakers {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub