@prefix dbpprop: . @prefix dbpedia: . dbpprop:elected dbpedia:Alex_Neil , dbpedia:Alex_Neil , dbpedia:Alex_Neil . @prefix rdf: . @prefix ns3: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil rdf:type ns3:ScottishNationalPartyPoliticians , ns3:AlumniOfTheUniversityOfDundee , ns3:LivingPeople . @prefix owl: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil rdf:type owl:Thing . @prefix dbpedia-owl: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil rdf:type dbpedia-owl:Person , dbpedia-owl:OfficeHolder , ; dbpprop:name "Alex Neil"@en . @prefix xsd: . @prefix ns7: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil ns7:birthDate "1951-08-22"^^xsd:date ; ns7:birthPlace , dbpedia:Scotland ; ns7:almaMater dbpedia:University_of_Dundee ; dbpedia-owl:party dbpedia:Scottish_National_Party ; owl:sameAs . @prefix ns8: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil owl:sameAs ns8:Alex_Neil . @prefix foaf: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil foaf:name "Alex Neil" . @prefix ns10: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil foaf:page ns10:Alex_Neil ; dbpprop:reference . @prefix rdfs: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil rdfs:label "Alex Neil"@en ; dbpedia-owl:birthDate "1951-08-22"^^xsd:date ; dbpedia-owl:birthPlace dbpedia:Scotland , ; dbpedia-owl:almaMater dbpedia:University_of_Dundee ; dbpprop:abstract "Alex Neil (born 22 August 1951) in Patna, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Born into a mining family he became somewhat naturally involved in Labour Politics, joining the Labour Party in the mid 1960s. He would become the chairman of both the Scottish Organisation of Labour Students and later the UK wide National Organisation of Labour Students. After graduating from the University of Dundee with a degree in economics he became the Senior Researcher for the Labour Party in Scotland. In 1976, he, along with Jim Sillars MP and John Robertson MP left the Labour Party to form the Scottish Labour Party (SLP). By 1979 the SLP had collapsed and Neil fell out of active politics until 1985 when he joined the Scottish National Party (SNP). Neil would go on to become the SNP's Publicity Director, and then in charge of the party's policy, as well as a candidate in the 1989 Glasgow Central by-election and candidate in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency in both the 1992 and 1997 General Elections. In 1999 he was elected SNP MSP for Central Scotland in the first Scottish Parliament. The following year he stood unsuccessfully for the leadership of the SNP against John Swinney in a hard fought contest. Thereafter he was appointed chair of the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, a role he kept on until 2003. Neil is on the left of the SNP, and is known as a fundamentalist, critical of the gradualist wing. In 2003 he was re-elected as SNP MSP for Central Scotland to the Scottish Parliament. In July 2004, Neil announced that he would not be a candidate in the impending contest for the leadership of the SNP, despite the fact that he believed he had considerable support within the party. He said that the reason for his decision was that senior figures in the party (such as MSP Fergus Ewing and former SNP leader Alex Salmond) had made it clear publicly that they would not work with him as leader. In 2004 Neil was appointed chair of the Enterprise and Culture Committee. He was also a co-convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on the Scottish Economy. Neil emerged as a leading supporter of former policewoman Shirley McKie as she bid to win compensation from the Scottish Government following her acquittal from perjury charges. He was again re-elected as a regional MSP for Central Scotland in 2007. He currently sits on the European and External Relations Committee and the Finance Committee. In the first reshuffle of the SNP Government since it took office in 2007, Neil was appointed as the Minister for Communities and Housing in February 2009."@en ; rdfs:comment "Alex Neil (born 22 August 1951) in Patna, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Born into a mining family he became somewhat naturally involved in Labour Politics, joining the Labour Party in the mid 1960s. He would become the chairman of both the Scottish Organisation of Labour Students and later the UK wide National Organisation of Labour Students. After graduating from the University of Dundee with a degree in economics he became the Senior Researcher for the Labour Party in Scotland."@en ; ns7:party dbpedia:Scottish_National_Party . @prefix skos: . @prefix ns13: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil skos:subject ns13:Living_people , ns13:Scottish_National_Party_politicians , ns13:Alumni_of_the_University_of_Dundee , , ns13:Members_of_the_Scottish_Parliament , . @prefix ns14: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil dbpprop:wikiPageUsesTemplate ns14:infobox_msp ; dbpprop:honorificSuffix dbpedia:Member_of_the_Scottish_Parliament ; dbpprop:constituencyMp . @prefix ns15: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil dbpprop:birthDate ns15:Birth_date_and_age ; dbpprop:birthPlace , dbpedia:Scotland ; dbpprop:almaMater dbpedia:University_of_Dundee ; dbpprop:party dbpedia:Scottish_National_Party ; dbpprop:termStart , "6 May 1999"@en ; dbpprop:successor "Incumbent"@en ; dbpprop:parliament "Scottish"@en ; dbpprop:firstminister dbpedia:Alex_Salmond ; dbpprop:predecessor "new parliament"@en , dbpedia:Stewart_Maxwell ; dbpprop:office dbpedia:Minister_for_Housing_and_Communities . @prefix ns16: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil dbpprop:hasPhotoCollection ns16:Alex_Neil . @prefix ns17: . dbpedia:Alex_Neil dbpprop:wordnet_type ns17:synset-incumbent-noun-1 . dbpprop:candidate dbpedia:Alex_Neil . dbpedia:Stewart_Maxwell dbpprop:after dbpedia:Alex_Neil ; dbpprop:successor dbpedia:Alex_Neil . dbpedia:Members_of_the_1st_Scottish_Parliament dbpprop:msp dbpedia:Alex_Neil . dbpedia:Members_of_the_2nd_Scottish_Parliament dbpprop:msp dbpedia:Alex_Neil . dbpprop:candidate dbpedia:Alex_Neil ; dbpprop:elected dbpedia:Alex_Neil ; dbpprop:candidate dbpedia:Alex_Neil , dbpedia:Alex_Neil . dbpedia:Members_of_the_3rd_Scottish_Parliament dbpprop:msp dbpedia:Alex_Neil . dbpedia:Alex_neil dbpprop:redirect dbpedia:Alex_Neil . @prefix yago: . yago:Alex_Neil owl:sameAs dbpedia:Alex_Neil .