Ian McWilliam Welsh (born 23 November 1953) is a former

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...

politician who works as Chief Executive of the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland. After a brief career as a professional footballer, he was an English teacher and became a local councillor, serving twice as a Council Leader. He was very narrowly elected as the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) for

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

but resigned at the end of the year, disillusioned at his failure to achieve office and having decided that he was uncomfortable with the mode of politics.

Teaching career

Welsh was born and brought up in

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

; he attended Prestwick Academy and

Ayr Academy Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is an 11–18 non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is the sixth largest secondary school in South Ayr ...

. He was a professional football player for

Kilmarnock F.C. Kilmarnock Football Club, commonly known as Killie, is a Scottish professional football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire that currently plays in the . The club has achieved several honours since its formation in 1869, most r ...

, but when his football career ended he studied English Literature and History at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and obtained a Diploma in Educational Management at

Jordanhill College Jordanhill College of Education was a higher education college in Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. It opened as a teacher training college in 1921. The college merged with the University of Strathclyde in 1993, becoming its Faculty of Educati ...

. He was employed as an English teacher at the

James Hamilton Academy James Hamilton Academy was a six-year non-denominational, co-educational, comprehensive school in Scotland. The school was officially opened on 16 September 1977. It closed on 29 March 2018 and was incorporated into Kilmarnock Academy. The fin ...

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

in 1977. He moved on to Auchinleck Academy in 1980, and became deputy Head Teacher there in 1992."Who's Who 2011", A & C Black.

Local government

Welsh went into politics as a councillor for Prestwick ward on

Kyle and Carrick Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Name * Kyle (given name), a Gaelic given name, usually masculine * Kyle (surname), a surname of Scottish origin * Kyle (musician), a hip hop artist from California * Kyle (Child's Play), played by Christine Elise ...

District Council in 1984. From the late 1980s, chaired the Prestwick Airport Steering Group; he campaigned alongside Scottish MPs to preserve the monopoly which Prestwick then enjoyed on cross-Atlantic flights from Scotland. Welsh became council leader of Kyle and Carrick Council in 1990, holding office until Labour lost control of the council in 1992. In 1995, he was elected to

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

Council, and served as Leader of the Council until 1999. He left teaching in 1997 and after briefly working as Director of Human Resources and Public Affairs for Prestwick Airport, was appointed Chief Executive of Kilmarnock F.C.

MSP for Ayr

In the first elections to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

in May 1999, Welsh won the seat of

by just 25 votes (0.07%) ahead of the

Conservative and Unionist The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...

candidate,

Phil Gallie Philip Roy Gallie (3 June 1939 – 24 January 2011) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr from 1992 to 1997, and then as a Member of the Scottish Parl ...

. The seat was the most marginal of the election, and there had to be two full recounts. He was named as member of the Education, Culture and Sport committee of the Parliament. In November 1999, he cautioned the members of the committee not to intervene in delicate negotiations over funding of

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

before it had a full briefing from the Minister responsible.

Resignation

An assessment of the performance of each MSP by '' The Herald'' newspaper published in the middle of December 1999 noted that Welsh was only on leave of absence from being Chief Executive of Kilmarnock F.C., and said that he was "clearly finding the transition to 'humble' back bencher a bit hard". A week later, Welsh suddenly resigned his seat, explaining that the decision came after "considerable heart searching and extended family debate". After press speculation that he was disappointed not to have achieved high office, Welsh wrote an article explaining that as a council leader he delivered "real service to constituents, rather than the threadbare and raddled soundbites of politicians who promise everything and deliver nothing". At 230 days after election, he was the first MSP to resign from the job. The subsequent by-election was won by John Scott for the Conservatives, gaining the party their first ever

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

seat in the Scottish Parliament.

Later career

Welsh returned to his post as Chief Executive of Kilmarnock F.C., but in July 2001 was appointed as Chief Executive of Rehab Scotland. He was Chief Executive of Momentum Scotland, a charity providing rehabilitation and training for disabled people, from 2001 to 2007. He was also Chairman of Borderline Theatre Company from 2002 to 2007, and became chairman of AUFA in 2007. He was Director of UK Services for the Rehab Group from 2007 to 2011. He is Chief Executive of the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland.

References

External links

*
Parliamentary News Release 66 – Resignation of Ian Welsh MSP

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Ian 1953 births Living people Scottish Labour councillors Labour MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 People educated at Prestwick Academy People from Prestwick Leaders of local authorities of Scotland Footballers from South Ayrshire Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire