Henry Baird McLeish (born 15 June 1948) is a Scottish politician, author, academic and former professional footballer who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2000 to 2001.

Born and raised into a Labour supporting coal mining family in Fife, McLeish dropped out of Buckhaven High School at the age of fifteen to pursue a professional career in football.

Dewar died in office of a brain haemorrhage on 11 October 2000, which triggered a leadership contest within the Labour Party to find a successor, with McLeish declaring his candidacy.

He oversaw the implementation of the McCrone Agreement for teachers in Scotland and strongly advocated free personal care for the elderly scheme.

[5][6][7] Born into a "strong Christian socialist influence" household in central Fife, where his father and grandfather worked as coal miners for a private company, McLeish's grandmother was a member of the Labour and Co-operative Party for seventy years.

[21][22] At the age of 18, McLeish trialled for a Scotland youth national team, playing against a group of footballers from Motherwell, but they lost 5–2.

As the council leader, he implemented a "municipal socialist" manifesto, proposing free bus passes and TV licences for pensioners.

[27] During his tenure as Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, McLeish and the Dewar government became embroiled in the 2000 SQA examinations controversy.

The introduction in Scotland of the reformed examinations system in 2000 was criticised in the press and by the Government after a series of administrative and computer errors led to several thousand incorrect Higher and Intermediate certificates being sent out by post.

[28] It was later confirmed that several senior officials within the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) would be facing disciplinary action as a result of the error.

BBC News said that both the Chief Executive of the SQA, Ron Tuck, and the Minister for Education, Sam Galbraith, were "kept in the dark" about the problems.

[29] The crisis took several months to resolve, and several management figures including the Chief Executive, Ron Tuck, resigned or lost their jobs as a result.

[32] McLeish was officially sworn into office as first minister of Scotland on 27 October 2000 at the Court of Session in Edinburgh after receiving the Royal Warrant of Appointment by Queen Elizabeth II.

[35] Professor John Curtice, a prominent political analyst, commented that McLeish would not have the "kind of authority" that Donald Dewar enjoyed.

[40] The following day, McLeish was criticised over his decision to appointment a Scottish ambassador to Washington D.C. which was described as "a threat to the future of the United Kingdom".

McLeish pledged that the official would be in place by the end of 2001, and said that the appointment was "about the future and Scotland's continued modernisation as a dynamic, globally-connected nation where opportunity is extended to all and no-one is left out".

[43] McLeish wrote a letter to the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, David Steel, confirming his resignation and also notified the queen.

He also chaired the Scottish Prisons Commission, which produced a report into sentencing and the criminal justice system in 2008 entitled "Scotland's Choice".

[48] The same article portrayed McLeish as having a distant relationship with Labour's leader in London, Tony Blair, but with a reputation for being a "moderniser" given his work alongside Donald Dewar in securing devolution.

[49] In contrast to "Dewar's gregariousness", however, The Economist described McLeish as "a bit of a loner" within the Scottish Parliament, "keeping his head down when there is trouble".

[49] Despite denying intentional wrongdoing,[50] McLeish's short tenure and rapid departure from office amid scandal likely dampened his public legacy.

His successor, Jack McConnell, appeared keen "to remove the influence of … Henry McLeish" from the Scottish Government by sacking most of his ministerial appointees within days of entering office.

[51] Since resigning as an MSP in 2003, McLeish has kept an active profile within Scotland's print media, writing on politics for The Scotsman,[52] The Herald,[53] and The National.

[54] As a strong devolutionist, he was one of the original signatories of the claim of right at the inaugural meeting of the 1989 Scottish constitutional convention which paved the way for devolution.

[55] Following the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership, in which the majority of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, but the majority of the Scottish electorate voted to remain in the EU, McLeish has since claimed that he would support and campaign for an independent Scottish sovereign state and campaign for it to be a fully functioning member and participate fully within the European Union despite Brexit.