Deputising for Jim Wallace, MacKay had particular responsibility for land reform and coordination of the Scottish Executive's drugs policy.

[2] He was educated at St Augustine's High School, before attending the University of Edinburgh where he earned an MA (Hons) in Politics and Modern History.

He was deputising for Minister for Justice Jim Wallace and had particular responsibility for land reform and coordination of the Scottish Executive's drugs policy.

[6] In July 2000, calls for MacKay to resign by opposition parties were made after he wrongly claimed the sex offenders register in Scotland was a matter reserved for Westminster.

Lyndsay McIntosh, the Scottish Conservative's deputy home affairs spokeswoman, called for his resignation, stating: "I think Mr MacKay has to consider his position...

MacKay rejected calls for his resignation and focused on plans to introduce tougher guidelines on the monitoring of sex offenders.

Following a trip from New York, United States, in May 2000, he unveiled the Scottish Executive's ten year plan to tackle the drug crisis in Scotland.

[8] Following the death of Donald Dewar in 2000, MacKay served as campaign manager for Henry McLeish in his bid for the leadership of the Labour Party in Scotland and First Minister.