Des McNulty is a Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician, and was a Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...

 for the Clydebank and Milngavie

Clydebank and Milngavie (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Clydebank and Milngavie is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

 constituency from 1999 to 2011, serving as Labour's Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning until he was defeated for re-election at the 2011 election

Scottish Parliament election, 2011

The 2011 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the mixed member proportional representation system is used to...

.

Early life and career

McNulty studied at St Bede's College, Manchester

St Bede's College, Manchester

St Bede's College, Manchester is an independent Roman Catholic day school situated on Alexandra Road South in the Whalley Range area of the city, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....

 and graduated from the University of York

University of York

The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...

 in social sciences in 1974.
Before entering the Scottish Parliament, he worked at Glasgow Caledonian University

Glasgow Caledonian University

Glasgow Caledonian University is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland.The university was constituted by an Act of Parliament on 1 April 1993 as a result of a merger between Glasgow Polytechnic and The Queen's College, Glasgow....

 as a sociologist, later becoming head of strategic planning.

He served as Deputy Minister for Social Justice from 2002 to 2003, but was replaced after the 2003 election

Scottish Parliament election, 2003

The Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive...

. He returned to ministerial office in November 2006 as Deputy Communities Minister.

On becoming leader of Labour in the Scottish Parliament in September 2008, Iain Gray appointed McNulty Shadow Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change. McNulty also served on the Scottish Parliament Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee. On the 27th of October 2009 he was appointed Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning by Iain Gray

Iain Gray

Iain Gray is a Scottish politician and the Leader of Scottish Labour Party Opposition in the Scottish Parliament. Gray was elected as the Member of the Scottish Parliament for the East Lothian constituency in 2007 having previously represented Edinburgh Pentlands from 1999 to 2003.-Background and...

. He is married and has two sons.