Frank McAveety
Encyclopedia
Frank McAveety is a Scottish
Labour
Co-operative
politician and was the Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Glasgow Shettleston
from 1999 until 2011.
and brought up in the city's Springburn
district. He was educated in Glasgow at All Saints Secondary School
, followed by the University of Strathclyde
, where in 1983 he gained a Bachelor of Arts
degree in English and History.
After receiving a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
from St Andrew's College of Education (now part of the University of Glasgow
) in 1984, McAveety began a career as a secondary school
teacher. He taught English at schools across the South side and the East End of Glasgow.
McAveety served as Leader of the Glasgow City Council from 1997 until 1999, during which time he initiated the largest ever investment package for Glasgow Secondary Schools in generations and pioneered the removal of housing debt for City Housing Tenants. He also established the first ever Local Authority Standards Committee, which was the influence for the establishment of the Standards Commission for Scotland
by the Parliament a few years later.
and served in that position until 2000. He returned to office as Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care in May 2002. As Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport following the Scottish Parliamentary Election, 2003, he established the National Theatre of Scotland
, which has resulted in the award-winning play, Black Watch and other productions. In his capacity as Sports Minister, McAveety advocated using sports investment as an opportunity for community regeneration and he oversaw Scotland's largest ever investment in national sports infrastructure, being developed in the East End of Glasgow. He also conducted a successful campaign to bring the headquarters of Sportscotland
, the national sports agency, to the East End of Glasgow.
In 2004, he was mocked by a Sheriff Court judge after charges against two antiwar protesters were dropped after an altercation with the two protesters and a Labour council candidate. McAveety had claimed they had put him through the "worst intimidation in his life" during an altercation in the southside of Glasgow. In dismissing the case however, Sheriff Graeme Warner said that McAveety "must have lived a very sheltered life" and had "completely blown his credibility".
A week later, he was forced to apologise for misleading parliament when he turned up late for a ministerial question time claiming to have been unavoidably detained on ministerial business. It was later discovered that he was actually eating pie, beans and roast potatoes in the parliament canteen. The incident was dubbed by some as "porky pie-gate" and is said to have led First Minister Jack McConnell
to sack him from his cabinet later that year.
McAveety was re-elected to the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2007 after winning more than 50% of the vote in Glasgow Shettleston
and until June 2010 served as Convener of the Public Petitions Committee and was the Scottish Labour Party's Shadow Minister for Sport.
On 16 June 2010 he resigned as Convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee after being overheard making comments about the physical appearance of a female member of the audience during a break in committee proceedings. The comments were broadcast because he had not switched off his microphone. The married MSP said: "There's a very attractive girl in the second row, dark... and dusky. We'll maybe put a wee word out for her."
McAveety led a campaign in 2009 to establish access for children free of charge to professional football matches in Scotland. He is a Celtic
and Scotland F.C
supporter and regularly turns out for the Scottish Parliamentary Football Team who have been involved in a number of charity events that have received national media coverage.
Frank is an avid music fan, known for his knowledge of music. He has written the praises of David Bowie
in the Scotsman
newspaper and he used to write a regular feature for Holyrood Magazine, which celebrated and recommended his favourite albums. In April 2005, the Scotsman
newspaper dubbed him the "daddy of parliamentary pop", in reference to his Chamber speech in support of a motion recognising Franz Ferdinand
for their contribution to Scottish popular music and culture.
McAveety has served as a board member for the Arches Theatre Company in Glasgow, Enterprise Scotland and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
. As of January 2009 he serves on the boards of the Scottish Youth Theatre and the Fields in Trust Scotland (formerly National Playing Fields Association).
In the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election, he lost his seat to the SNP's John Mason
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Labour
Scottish Labour Party
The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
Co-operative
Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom committed to supporting and representing co-operative principles. The party does not put up separate candidates for any UK election itself. Instead, Co-operative candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party as "Labour...
politician and was the 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 Glasgow Shettleston
Glasgow Shettleston (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Shettleston is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
from 1999 until 2011.
Early life
Frank McAveety was born 27 July 1962 in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and brought up in the city's Springburn
Springburn
Springburn is an inner city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, home to various working and middle-class households.Springburn developed from a small rural hamlet at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its industrial expansion began with the establishment of a chemical...
district. He was educated in Glasgow at All Saints Secondary School
All Saints RC Secondary
For other schools with a similar name see All Saints High School.All Saints RC Secondary is a comprehensive, co-educational, Roman Catholic public school situated in the north-east of Glasgow, which is run by the headteacher, Gerry Lyons....
, followed by the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
, where in 1983 he gained a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in English and History.
After receiving a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
Postgraduate Certificate in Education
The Postgraduate Certificate in Education is a one-year course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for undergraduate degree holders that allows them to train to be a teacher....
from St Andrew's College of Education (now part of the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
) in 1984, McAveety began a career as a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
teacher. He taught English at schools across the South side and the East End of Glasgow.
Glasgow councillor
He was a member of Glasgow District Council from 1988 until 1996 and served as Convenor of the Arts and Culture Committee, which developed the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art and initiated plans for the largescale development of Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow.McAveety served as Leader of the Glasgow City Council from 1997 until 1999, during which time he initiated the largest ever investment package for Glasgow Secondary Schools in generations and pioneered the removal of housing debt for City Housing Tenants. He also established the first ever Local Authority Standards Committee, which was the influence for the establishment of the Standards Commission for Scotland
Standards Commission for Scotland
The Standards Commission for Scotland was established under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. Act 2000. The Commission's purpose is to advance high ethical standards in public life...
by the Parliament a few years later.
Scottish Parliament
When elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Local Government in the Scottish ExecutiveScottish Executive
The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
and served in that position until 2000. He returned to office as Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care in May 2002. As Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport following the Scottish Parliamentary Election, 2003, he established the National Theatre of Scotland
National Theatre of Scotland
The National Theatre of Scotland is a theatre company established in February 2006. The company performs in a wide range of venues including theatres, halls and found spaces across Scotland....
, which has resulted in the award-winning play, Black Watch and other productions. In his capacity as Sports Minister, McAveety advocated using sports investment as an opportunity for community regeneration and he oversaw Scotland's largest ever investment in national sports infrastructure, being developed in the East End of Glasgow. He also conducted a successful campaign to bring the headquarters of Sportscotland
Sportscotland
Sportscotland , formerly the Scottish Sports Council, is the national agency for sport in Scotland. Their stated aim is to help everyone in Scotland enjoy sport's many benefits....
, the national sports agency, to the East End of Glasgow.
In 2004, he was mocked by a Sheriff Court judge after charges against two antiwar protesters were dropped after an altercation with the two protesters and a Labour council candidate. McAveety had claimed they had put him through the "worst intimidation in his life" during an altercation in the southside of Glasgow. In dismissing the case however, Sheriff Graeme Warner said that McAveety "must have lived a very sheltered life" and had "completely blown his credibility".
A week later, he was forced to apologise for misleading parliament when he turned up late for a ministerial question time claiming to have been unavoidably detained on ministerial business. It was later discovered that he was actually eating pie, beans and roast potatoes in the parliament canteen. The incident was dubbed by some as "porky pie-gate" and is said to have led First Minister Jack McConnell
Jack McConnell
Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale is a British Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He was third First Minister of Scotland from 2001 to 2007, making him the longest serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament...
to sack him from his cabinet later that year.
McAveety was re-elected to the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2007 after winning more than 50% of the vote in Glasgow Shettleston
Glasgow Shettleston (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Shettleston is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
and until June 2010 served as Convener of the Public Petitions Committee and was the Scottish Labour Party's Shadow Minister for Sport.
On 16 June 2010 he resigned as Convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee after being overheard making comments about the physical appearance of a female member of the audience during a break in committee proceedings. The comments were broadcast because he had not switched off his microphone. The married MSP said: "There's a very attractive girl in the second row, dark... and dusky. We'll maybe put a wee word out for her."
McAveety led a campaign in 2009 to establish access for children free of charge to professional football matches in Scotland. He is a Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
and Scotland F.C
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
supporter and regularly turns out for the Scottish Parliamentary Football Team who have been involved in a number of charity events that have received national media coverage.
Frank is an avid music fan, known for his knowledge of music. He has written the praises of David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
in the Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
newspaper and he used to write a regular feature for Holyrood Magazine, which celebrated and recommended his favourite albums. In April 2005, the Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
newspaper dubbed him the "daddy of parliamentary pop", in reference to his Chamber speech in support of a motion recognising Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
for their contribution to Scottish popular music and culture.
McAveety has served as a board member for the Arches Theatre Company in Glasgow, Enterprise Scotland and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre , located on the north bank of the River Clyde, in Glasgow, is Scotland's largest exhibition centre....
. As of January 2009 he serves on the boards of the Scottish Youth Theatre and the Fields in Trust Scotland (formerly National Playing Fields Association).
In the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election, he lost his seat to the SNP's John Mason
John Mason (Scottish politician)
John Fingland Mason MSP is a Scottish politician and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Shettleston.He was the SNP Member of Parliament for Glasgow East from 2008 to 2010.-Background:...