SHE was one of Scotland’s most controversial ministers. Although renowned for her intellect and energy, Wendy Alexander was dogged by claims of an inability to get on with colleagues, accusations of “burn-out” and rumours about her private life.
Only last month she felt forced to describe renewed claims of an affair with a married man prominent in public life as “a lie”, saying she was the victim of a sex-scandal smear campaign.
Dubbed “the pint-sized policy powerhouse”, she twice decided
not to run for First Minister despite being tipped for Scotland’s top job.
The 38-year-old was said to be the late Donald Dewar’s choice to succeed him as First Minister.
But she did not put herself forward after his death and Henry McLeish was narrowly elected instead.
She later had a furious private row with Mr McLeish, which became public knowledge very quickly, when she refused to take over parts of the environment brief. She also did not stand against Jack McConnell when Mr McLeish resigned.
She lost goodwill in the party after Mr McLeish resigned when she indicated she would run for First Minister, allowed allies to line up publicly, then three days later changed her mind.
She is said to cry while watching romantic comedies, but reduce others to tears at work, publicly admonishing them if they are not doing what is required.
Adam Rennie, a senior civil servant, was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack after an alleged angry phone call from her.
Last year, Andrew Baird, a senior press officer, asked to be moved from her department because he found her too difficult to work with. Most recently she has been known as “the Minister for Almost Everything” because of the massive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning portfolio she took on after Mr McConnell added the transport job to her other responsibilities.
A daughter of the manse with a solid left-wing Presbyterian background, her father, the Rev Douglas Alexander, conducted Mr Dewar’s funeral service. Her brother Douglas is Westminster MP for Paisley South.
Under her transport brief, she this year signalled the Executive’s support for a major tram network and for the principle of road tolls in Edinburgh.
But she will be remembered most by the public for her support in 2000 for the repeal of Section 28, which banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools.
She was hailed as a champion by gay rights activists and vilified by campaigners for it, with some opponents falsely insinuating she was a lesbian.Claims that she was overburdened began to gather pace as the first term of the Parliament continued. But last month her public response implied she wanted to stick it out.
She said: “I’m doing all right so far. I do get a huge buzz out of the job. They put us there to change the country and make it better – not to be a soap opera.”
Friends have denied that former Scottish Office minister, Western Isles MP Calum MacDonald, was an ex-boyfriend. But others have reportedly admitted that she once enjoyed “a serious relationship” with Calum MacLeod, a Lewis-born minister in the Church of Scotland who is now based in Chicago.
