Career
He was made a deputy minister in the first Scottish Executive. After the death of Donald Dewar in 2000 he was campaign manager for Henry McLeish who went on to succeed Dewar as First Minister. McLeish appointed MacKay as Minister of Finance, replacing Jack McConnell.
McLeish resigned in 2001, and Jack McConnell was elected as his replacement unopposed.
In McConnell"s first cabinet reshuffle MacKay was sacked. In the 2003 election he was defeated by the Liberal Democrat Mike Pringle.
MacKay did not stand for re-election in the 2007 election.
