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 Born
in Greenock in September 1950, Duncan McNeil
entered his first shipyard as an apprentice
boilermaker in 1965.
He
left the industry in 1979 to act as a co-ordinator for the Unemployed Workers Centres
in Glasgow.
In
1981, he became a full time official with the GMB
union. It was through the union that he was given
the opportunity to take advantage of second
chance learning, which ultimately led to him
becoming a Regional Organiser.
It was in this
role that he acted as lead negotiator in the whisky industry
– brokering the landmark partnership agreements.
Following 6
years on the Labour Party’s Scottish Executive Committee, Mr
McNeil was elected to the Scottish Parliament from the
Greenock & Inverclyde constituency in May 1999. After 15
months serving on the Enterprise & Lifelong Learning
Committee, he became Labour's Chief Whip and was elected to
the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) in December 2001.
Following his
re-election in May 2003, Mr McNeil
left the Whips' Office to take up the position of Chair of the
Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party (SPLP) and serve as a member
of the Health Committee. He was re-elected as SPLP Chair
after his re-election as MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde in
May 2007. He did not, however, seek re-election to the
SPCB or re-appointment to the Health Committee, preferring
instead to take up the position of Convener of the Local
Government and Communities Committee.
He
lives in Greenock and enjoys golf.
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