Wendy Alexander 'asked to leave' Dundee University over 'uncomfortable questions'

Former MSP Wendy Alexander has said she was asked to leave her post at Dundee University last year for asking “increasingly uncomfortable” questions of its former principal.

Alexander, who sits in the House of Lords, was previously the university’s vice-principal international for nearly ten years before being asked to go last year.

Amid an ongoing investigation into Dundee University’s financial crisis, she was asked to give evidence at a Holyrood committee meeting on Wednesday.

Although she was unable to attend in person, her written evidence laid bare claims that she was “progressively frozen out of meetings” for challenging the “absence/adequacy” of financial information.

In September 2024, Alexander said she was “then asked to leave”.

“I repeatedly asked in writing about key financial matters, this proved increasingly uncomfortable for the then-principal. Shortly thereafter, I was asked to leave the University,” Alexander said.

“I declined the offer of overseas trips at the University’s expense to be followed by a generous settlement payment. Quite simply, it seemed unethical and morally wrong.

“I chose to retire rather than accept the package and trips offered at that time.”

She said former principal Professor Iain Gillespie, who was criticised in a recent report into the university’s finances, “made clear” that he wanted Alexander to leave the university shortly after she said she reiterated concerns about the scale of Dundee University’s unmet savings and the £30m deficit implied.

Alexander’s evidence comes just days after a scathing review of the university’s financial crisis was published.

Led by Professor Pamela Gillies, the review found serious concerns over governance and transparency at the highest levels of the university.

It found senior leaders at Dundee University breached ethics rules, ignored financial red flags, and operated in “isolation of facts”.

Professor Gillespie was among those implicated in the report.

As Scottish MSPs foot the Dundee University bailout bill, they are attempting to determine what caused the financial situation and who is to blame.

Other former university leaders, including Alexander, were recalled to give evidence at Holyrood’s Education, Children, and Young People committee on Wednesday.

Dundee University’s former director of finance, Peter Fotheringham; former chief operating officer, Dr Jim McGeorge; and former chair of court, Amanda Millar, were all questioned by politicians over the current financial position at the university.