Alex Neil was born in 1951 in Patna, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Born into a mining family he became somewhat naturally involved in Labour Politics, joining the Labour Party in the mid 1960s. He would become the chairman of both the Scottish Organisation of Labour Students and later the UK wide National Organisation of Labour Students. After graduating from the University of Dundee with a degree in economics he became the Senior Researcher for the Labour Party in Scotland. Alex Neil courtesy of the SNP. Taken from http://www. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Patna, population 2298, is a village in East Ayrshire. ... Logo of East Ayrshire Council East Ayrshire (Siorrachd Inbhir Àir an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen of the UK Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by... The Labour Party is a centre-left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ... Scottish Labour Students is a socialist society organisation, affiliated to the Scottish Labour Party and forms an important part of the UK-wide organisation Labour Students. ... Labour Students, often referred to as NOLS (from National Organisation of Labour Students, the former title), is an independent student organisation affiliated to the British Labour Party. ... The University of Dundee is the principal university in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee, Scotland. ...

In 1976, he, along with Jim Sillars MP and John Robertson MP left the Labour Party to form the Scottish Labour Party (SLP). By 1979 the SLP had collapsed and Neil fell out of active politics until 1985 when he joined the Scottish National Party (SNP). Jim Sillars was born in 1937 in Ayrshire, Scotland. ... John Robertson (born 1913, died 1987) was a member of the British House of Commons for the Labour Party representing Paisley for 18 years between 1961 and 1979, (for the Scottish Labour Party (SLP) between 1976 and 1979). ... The Scottish Labour Party (SLP) was formed on January 18th 1976 as a breakaway from the UK Labour Party, by Labour members disaffected with the then Labour Governments failure to secure a devolved Scottish Assembly, as well as with its social and economic agenda. ... In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) is a centre-left political party which campaigns for Scottish independence. ...

Neil would go on to become the SNP's Publicity Director, and then in charge of the party's policy, as well as a candidate in the 1989 Glasgow Central by-election and candidate in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency in both the 1992 and 1997 General Elections. Glasgow Central is a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. ... The Glasgow Central by-election, in Glasgow, Scotland, was held on June 15, 1989. ... Kilmarnock and Loudoun is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The general election of April 9, 1992, was the fourth victory in a row for the Conservatives. ... The 1 May 1997 UK general election brought the first change in UK Government for 18 years. ...

In 1999 he was elected SNP MSP for Central Scotland in the first Scottish Parliament. The Scottish parliamentary election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on May 6, 1999. ... Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) (Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba (BPA) in Gaelic) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. ... Map of Scotland showing the location of the former Central region Regional Council Central (Roinn Meadhanach in Gaelic) was a local government region of Scotland from 1974 to 1995. ... For the national legislative body up to 1707, see Parliament of Scotland. ...

The following year he stood unsuccessfully for the leadership of the SNP against John Swinney in a hard fought contest. Thereafter he was appointed chair of the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, a role he kept on until 2003. John Swinney John Swinney is the former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP). ...

Neil is, unsurprisingly given his background, on the left of the SNP, and is known as a fundamentalist, critical of the gradualist wing. The fundamentalist ideology within the Scottish National Party (SNP) is the belief that the SNP should emphasise its policy of Scottish independence more widely in order to achieve it. ... The gradualist viewpoint within the Scottish National Party (SNP) is the idea that Scottish independence can be won by the accumulation by the Scottish Parliament of powers that the UK Parliament currently has over a protracted period of time. ...

In 2003 he was re-elected by the people of Central Scotland to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish parliamentary election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. ...

In July 2004, Neil announced that he would not be a candidate in the impending contest for the leadership of the SNP, despite the fact that he believed he had considerable support within the party. He said that the reason for his decision was that senior figures in the party (such as MSP Fergus Ewing and former SNP leader Alex Salmond) had made it clear publicly that they would not work with him as leader. Fergus Ewing, born September 23, 1957 is a Scottish National Party (SNP) MSP. He is the son of veteran Scottish Nationalist Winnie Ewing (his father was also a SNP councillor) and has long been active in the SNP. He studied law at the University of Glasgow where he was a... Alex Salmond MP Alexander Alex Elliot Anderson Salmond, born on Hogmanay, December 31, 1954 in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, is the leader (or National Convener) of the Scottish National Party (SNP). ...

In 2004 Neil was appointed chair of the Enterprise and Culture Committee. He is also a current co-convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on the Scottish Economy.

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