Jackie Baillie

Baillie was chair of the Scottish Labour Party in 1997.[3] She was first elected at the inaugural election for the Scottish Parliament in May 1999. A member of the Scottish Executive, she served as Minister for Social Justice when Henry McLeish was First Minister of Scotland, during which time she was involved with the Homelessness Task Force.[4] She was re-elected in 2003 and became a member of the Scottish Parliament's Justice 2 Committee and Public Petitions Committee.

Official parliamentary portrait, 2011

In December 2007, Baillie defended Labour leader Wendy Alexander on Newsnight Scotland, during the controversy regarding alleged illegal donations to Alexander's leadership campaign.[5]

In 2009, Baillie successfully brought into being an act of the Scottish Parliament, with the unanimous support of all MSPs, to allow for greater protection of disabled parking spaces.

Baillie has opposed minimum pricing of alcohol, being unconvinced about the overall benefits.[6] In 2010, she stated it would not be the best way of tackling the country's alcohol-related problems but instead backed a tax-based alternative amongst other measures.[7]

Baillie held the position of Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Health in the Shadow Cabinet of Iain Gray, retaining the post in December 2011 following the election of Johann Lamont as Gray's successor.[8][9] When Lamont announced a major shakeup of the Labour frontbench team on 28 June 2013, Baillie was moved from Health to Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Social Justice and Welfare.[10]

On 27 March 2014, Baillie stood in for Johann Lamont at First Minister's Questions while Lamont was attending the funeral of veteran Labour politician Tony Benn.[11] She also stood in at FMQs following Lamont's resignation as Labour leader in October 2014.[12] Baillie ruled herself out of standing in the leadership election that followed Lamont's departure, stating that she wanted a "supporting role" rather than to be Labour leader.[13]

Official parliamentary portrait, 2016

As a backbench MSP, Baillie campaigned for a public inquiry into a lethal outbreak of Clostridium difficile colitis at the Vale of Leven Hospital in her constituency. The inquiry into the outbreak cost £10 million, while the families were offered £1 million, something which prompted Baillie to plead Health Secretary Shona Robison for greater compensation for those affected, during a session of the Scottish Parliament in November 2014.[14]

In December 2017, Baillie was reduced to tears when raising the concern of fire safety following the deaths of two men in the Cameron House Hotel Fire.[15]

After Kezia Dugdale resigned as Scottish Labour leader in August 2015 and interim leader Alex Rowley was suspended, Baillie served as acting leader until Richard Leonard was elected as the new leader following the 2017 Scottish Labour leadership election. Baillie continued to serve as Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work until October 2018 when she was sacked by Leonard, who also replaced her in the role.

In January 2020, Baillie announced that she would be standing as a candidate for the post of Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party.[16] On 3 April, it was announced she had won the contest by 10,311 votes to Matt Kerr's 7,528 votes.[17] After she was elected, Leonard reappointed her to his frontbench as Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Finance. She has served as acting Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since the resignation of Leonard on 14 January 2021.