Alexander Andrew Penman Rowley (born 30 November 1963) is a Scottish politician who served asDeputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017 and actingleader of the party from August to November 2017. He has been aMember of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since2014, firstly for theCowdenbeath constituency and theMid Scotland and Fife region since2016. He has been described as being on thepolitical left of the party.
Born inDunfermline, Rowley studiedcommunity education at theUniversity of Edinburgh before serving asGeneral Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party and onFife Council. First elected to theScottish Parliament at aby-election in January 2014, he lostCowdenbeath toAnnabelle Ewing of theSNP at the2016 election. However, he was returned as anadditional member forMid Scotland and Fife.
Following the resignation ofKezia Dugdale, he served as actingLeader of the Scottish Labour Party during the2017 Scottish Labour leadership election. He served asShadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government from 2018 to 2019 andShadow Cabinet Secretary for Brexit and Constitutional Relations from 2019 to 2020. He is currentlyShadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity.
Born inDunfermline and raised inKelty, Rowley was educated atSt Columba's High School in Dunfermline.[1] He studied for an MA Honours in sociology and politics atNewbattle Abbey College inDalkeith and theUniversity of Edinburgh and later for an MSc incommunity education at Edinburgh.[2]
Rowley wasGeneral Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party for one year, from May 1998 to May 1999. He was first elected toFife Regional Council in 1990 when he was Chairman of Finance, and he later became the first leader of the newFife Council, a position he returned to in 2012 until his election to the Scottish Parliament in 2014.[citation needed]
Prior to his election to theScottish Parliament, Rowley was aFife Council member (re-elected in 2007) and Labour Council Group Leader.[3] He worked as an education official with theTUC and worked for five years as an assistant, election agent and constituency manager toGordon Brown, formerPrime Minister of the United Kingdom. Despite being on thepolitical left-wing of the party, he was considered Brown'sright-hand man andprotégé (Brown was one ofTony Blair's key partners during theNew Labour era).[4][5][6] He stood in the2011 Scottish Parliament election as a Labour candidate forDunfermline.
Rowley declared his candidacy for the Scottish Labour Party's2015 deputy leadership election, and was supported in his candidacy by trade unionsASLEF,CWU,NUM,Scottish Co-Operative Party,Socialist Health Association,TSSA,UCATT, andUNISON. He comfortably won the first round preferences of votes from the labour party membership and secured victory with over half the votes in the second round of voting. He was elected on 15 August 2015.[7] Following Kezia Dugdale's resignation, he took over as actingLeader of the Scottish Labour Party, until the new leader was elected.[8]
In September 2017, a leaked recording that was taken without permission and sold toThe Scottish Sun, featuring Rowley at theLabour Party Conference inBrighton, led to accusations of a plot to oust Dugdale and replace her withRichard Leonard. Rowley said he backed Leonard to become leader to a member of the public, as well as party member, in a conversation that turned out to be a freelance journalist secretly recording the conversation undercover. Rowley had stated he would remain neutral, but was unaware of being recorded by what turned out to be a journalist trying to sell a story. He apologised for the leaked recording, but strenuously denied being involved in or even aware of any plots within the Labour Party to remove Dugdale.[9]
From October 2018 to September 2019, Rowley served asScottish Labour Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government.[10] During the 2019 Scottish budget process, Rowley was reprimanded by the Scottish Labour leader due to Rowley's personal discussions with the SNP Finance Secretary about supporting the budget in exchange for cuts to local government being substituted for Higher Education cuts in breach of Scottish Labour Party policy and undermining the budget spokespersonJames Kelly.[11]
Rowley becameScottish Labour Spokesperson for Brexit and Constitutional Relations in September 2019.[12] In November 2020, he was moved to the role of shadow economy minister.[13] He nominatedMonica Lennon in the2021 Scottish Labour leadership election.[14] AfterAnas Sarwar won the leadership election, he promoted Rowley to ShadowCabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity.[15]
On 6 March 2025, he announced he would stand down at the2026 Scottish Parliament election.[16]
Rowley has three adult children, a granddaughter, and a grandson. He is the father ofDanielle Rowley, who served asMP forMidlothian from the2017 general election until the2019 general election.
On 15 November 2017, Rowley resigned as deputy leader and referred himself to an internal investigation after a former partner took to theScottish Sun to accuse him of sending her disrespectful text messages four years previously.[17] Former Scottish Labour leaderKezia Dugdale and leadership candidateAnas Sarwar called for Rowley to be suspended from the party while the investigation was carried out.[18][19] Rowley claimed there was a determined attempt to use the media to damage him and his family for political purposes. The investigation concluded there was no case to answer as the party had not received a formal complaint. A party spokesperson added: "The party was approached by newspapers with unsubstantiated claims, with no evidence shared with the Labour party prior to publication in theSun newspaper."[20]
{{cite news}}:|author= has generic name (help)| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | General Secretary ofScottish Labour 1998–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader ofScottish Labour 2015–2017 | Succeeded by Lesley Laird(interim) |
| Leader ofScottish Labour Acting 2017 | Succeeded by | |