Hugh Henry (born 12 February 1952) is a former

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 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 shootin ...

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 trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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, Renfrewshire. He was educated at

St Mirin's Academy St Mirin's Academy was a Catholic senior secondary school for boys founded in 1922 in Paisley, Scotland, and which closed in 1976. The school was dedicated to St Mirin, the patron saint of the town and of the Diocese of Paisley. The Academy's La ...

in Paisley, the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms 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 Strathcl ...

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. He was a local councillor from 1984 until 1999, including 4 years as leader of Renfrewshire Council. A former Marxist, he was once a supporter of the Militant tendency.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Henry was appointed Deputy

Minister for Health and Community Care The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, commonly referred to as the Health Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for the Health and Social Care Directorates and NHS Scotland. ...

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 A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

after the

2003 Scottish Parliament election The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Labour Party MSP, rema ...

, 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 co ...

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 , body = , member_of = Scottish Parliamentary Corporate BodyScottish Parliament , insignia = Scottish_Parliament_logo_purple_vertical.png , insigniasize = 150px , insigniacaption = Logo used to represent ...

, 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 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 ...

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