Iain spent his early years in Edinburgh before his family moved to Inverness. He went to the Royal Academy straight from Primary 6 where he was awarded the school dux before returning to study Physics at Edinburgh University.

His first teaching job was at Gracemount High School in Edinburgh where he taught Maths and Physics. A few years later he left to teach in an agricultural technical school on the banks of the Limpopo river in Mozambique. The country was in the midst of a civil war and South Africa regularly bombed or invaded. It hadn't rained in two years and food was short.

Iain Gray was in Chile three days after General Pinochet left office, in Rwanda two months after the genocide and in the refuge camps of Eastern Zaire where the survivers fled in their hundreds of thousands. He has worked in the minefields of Cambodia and in Zimbabwean villages simply decimated by HIV/AIDs.Iain Gray working for Oxfam

As Scotland's Oxfam Campaigns Director for twelve years, Iain has witnessed people in the most incredible hardship and despair working together to build a better life for themselves, their families and their communities. The experience gave Iain his passion to tackle injustice and inequality and the conviction that no matter how bad things are, hope drives good people towards a better future.
 
After seven years as a teacher trying to support young people to make the best of their opportunities at the height of Thatcherism, and twelve years with Oxfam organising for social justice and against poverty around the world, Iain Gray stood for the Scottish Parliament because it represented the best opportunity to make his own country fairer and more successful.
 
During the Devolution referendum, Iain organised the Yes Campaign for Labour in the Lothians from the dingy basement of an office in Edinburgh's Windsor Street. Completely surrounded by posters which he had been pasting to card, all saying "Yes Yes," Iain took the opportunity to propose to his wife Gil. She took the hint and said yes.
 
Iain Gray has held 4 different Ministerial posts, including Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, alongside Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell. He also spent 4 years as a Special Adviser to the then Secretary of State for Scotland, Alistair Darling. The experience gave him a unique understanding of how devolution works. Since 2007, Iain has held the post of Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance where he predicted the devastating impact of the SNP's budget on the fight for social justice.
 
Outside of politics, Iain is a passionate Hibs supporter. He loves reading but also enjoys music and film, playing chess and attempting to grow bonsai trees. He used to play football and karate but now enjoys the gym.

Last updated 30th Jul 2008