Roderick Lewis Macdonald (born 1 January 1957) is a Scottish politician who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region between 2011 and 2021. A member of Scottish Labour, he previously represented the Aberdeen Central constituency 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 2011. He was a deputy Scottish Executive minister from 2001 to 2007.

Early life and career

Born in Stornoway, Macdonald moved with his family to Aberdeenshire as a child, and attended

Inverurie Academy Inverurie Academy is a secondary school in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. The school is one of the 42 secondary schools run by Aberdeenshire Council. Inverurie Academy is located on Jackson Street, Inverurie. History Built in the Victorian Period, the ...

and later the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. Macdonald received an MA in history and a PhD in

African studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's history (pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial), demography ...

and later lectured at the university. He is a member of the trade union

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...

Political career

Macdonald unsuccessfully contested the Moray UK Parliament constituency at the 1997 general election. Prior to his election as an MSP, he worked as a parliamentary researcher to the MPs Frank Doran and Tom Clarke. After being elected in the

1999 Scottish Parliament election The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliam ...

, Macdonald joined the Scottish Executive in March 2001. He was briefly Deputy Minister for Transport and Planning from March to November 2001. He then served as Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, later renamed Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, from 2001 to 2004. He served as Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development from 2004 to 2005 and Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care from 2005 to 2007. Between June 2013 and December 2014, Macdonald served as Scottish Labour Chief Whip. He has also led for Scottish Labour on enterprise and tourism, infrastructure, justice and energy. He has served as convener of the Health and Sport Committee from December 2017 to May 2021. He became interim Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament in April 2020, following the self isolation of

Christine Grahame Christine Grahame (formerly Creech; born 9 September 1944) is a Scottish politician who served as a Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2016 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a Member of ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Macdonald nominated

Anas Sarwar Anas Sarwar (born 14 March 1983) is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016, having been Member of Parliame ...

in the

2021 Scottish Labour leadership election The 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election was triggered on 14 January 2021 by the resignation of Richard Leonard as leader of the Scottish Labour Party, who had led the party since 2017. Two candidates were nominated, Anas Sarwar and Moni ...

. He stood down at the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The e ...

Personal life

Macdonald is married to Sandra who has worked in the oil industry. Macdonald also has two children. Sandra has been elected as a member on

Aberdeen City Council gd, Comhairle Cathair Obar Dheathain , native_name_lang = , other_name = , image_skyline = Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg , image_caption ...

References

External links

*
Lewis Macdonald MSP
personal site 1957 births Living people People from Stornoway People from Inverurie People educated at Inverurie Academy Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen Labour MSPs Scottish trade unionists Members of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen constituencies 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 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub