In December 2019, Neale was elected as member of parliament for the

Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Constituency. Neale was previously the SNP

Westminster Group spokesperson for vaccine deployment and the SNP

representative on the Health and Social Care Select Committee. As of

28 March 2021, Neale took the decision to leave the SNP and join the

newly-established Alba Party, a political party set up to deliver a super-majority

for Scottish independence at Holyrood. 

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Neale was born in Belfast and lived in the north of Ireland through his early years. At the age of seven his family moved to Glenrothes New Town in Scotland.

 

Neale attended Glenrothes High School before starting his career in nursing. He completed a mental health nursing qualification (RMN) in Fife. Following this, Neale completed his general nurse training (RGN) at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

 

Moving to London in 1993, Neale worked at University College London Hospital’s (UCLH) Clinical Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant service. During this time Neale completed a post-registration diploma in oncology and palliative care. After successive promotions, Neale took up the post of charge nurse on the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit, at UCLH’s Middlesex site, before taking on the role of senior nurse for oncology and head and neck surgery. In 2005 Neale was appointed as divisional nurse director for rare cancer at the Royal Marden Hospital.

 

Neale has been a specialist guest lecturer on adolescent cancer and sarcoma at various university courses including Great Ormond Street Hospital, South Bank University and Cambridge University. He has been a contributing author to academic textbooks and has presented primary research internationally. Neale obtained an MSc (distinction) at City University, London.

 

On his return to Scotland, Neale entered the world of politics in 2012, first as councillor for Dunfermline Central. During his time as a councillor he was the SNP spokesperson for health and social care, SNP group convener, and latterly SNP group leader. Neale led a campaign that delivered the largest SNP group ever to Fife Council. 

 

Neale has been MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath since 2019. He lives with his husband and two children in Fife.