Hugh Henry (born 12 February 1952) is a former
Scottish Labour Party politician. He was the
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for
Renfrewshire South, formerly
Paisley South, from
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
to
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
.
Background
Henry was born 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 ...
and raised in
Erskine
Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the l ...
,
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...
. He was educated at
St Mirin's Academy in
Paisley, the
University of Glasgow
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Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
and
Jordanhill College of Education
Jordanhill Campus is an historic estate within the boundaries of Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, which developed as a country estate. It is best known and most recently used as the home to the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathc ...
in Glasgow. Prior to working in politics, he worked as an accountant with
IBM UK Ltd, as a teacher and as a
welfare rights
Welfare rights means the rights of people to be aware of and receive their maximum entitlement to state welfare benefits, and to be treated reasonably well by the welfare system. It has been established in the United Kingdom since 1969 and has als ...
officer with
Strathclyde Regional Council
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government ...
. He was a local councillor from 1984 until 1999, including 4 years as leader of
Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Ren ...
. A former Marxist, he was once a supporter of the
Militant tendency
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, leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board)
, leader1_name = Ted Grant
, leader1_title = Political Secretary
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.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
![HughHenryMSP20110510](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/HughHenryMSP20110510.JPG)
Henry was appointed Deputy
Minister for Health and Community Care in the
Scottish Executive in 2001, and moved to become Deputy
Minister for Social Justice
The Minister for Housing and Welfare was a Junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the Minister did not attend the Scottish Cabinet.
The post was created in May 2007 as the Minister of Communities and Sport, but was ren ...
in 2002. He was appointed Deputy
Minister for Justice after the
2003 Scottish Parliament election, and became Minister for Education in 2006. He retained the education brief in opposition after the
2007 election. Henry was named
Scottish Politician of the Year
Scottish Politician of the Year is an annual award established in 1999. It is held by '' The Herald'' newspaper in Prestonfield House, Edinburgh.
Although the awards ceremony has been held once at the Royal Museum, Prestonfield House Hotel is c ...
in 2010, for his performance as Convenor of the Public Affairs Committee. On 11 May 2011, Henry stood in the election for the 4th
Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
sco, Preses o the Scots Pairlament
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, coming second to
Tricia Marwick
Patricia Marwick (née Lee; born 5 November 1953) is a Scottish politician who served as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2011 to 2016. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 1999 to 2016. Elected as a member of ...
, a
Scottish National Party MSP. He stood down from the Scottish Parliament on 23 March 2016.
Personal life
Henry is married with two daughters and one son.
References
External links
*
Scottish ExecutiveConstituency website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Hugh
1952 births
Living people
People from Renfrewshire
People educated at St Mirin's Academy
Scottish people of Irish descent
Politicians from Glasgow
Scottish accountants
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Ministers of the Scottish Government
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
Scottish Labour councillors
Councillors in Renfrewshire
Militant tendency supporters