Hector Uisdean MacKenzie, Baron MacKenzie of Culkein (born 25 February 1940) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 nurse and former trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 official.

The son of George MacKenzie and Williamina Sutherland was educated on the Isle of Erraid Public School, in Argyll

Argyll

Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...

, the Aird Public School on the Isle of Lewis, the Nicolson Institute

Nicolson Institute

The Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, is the largest school in the Western Isles, Scotland.The Nicolson is the only six-year secondary school in Lewis. Sir E. Scott School is in Harris. Together, they provide education up to Advanced Higher level.The student population is around 2000...

 in Stornoway

Stornoway

Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...

 and the Portree High School

Portree High school

Portree High School is a state co-educational comprehensive school in Portree, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The school currently enrolls 640 pupils and employs 60 teachers...

 in Skye

Skye

Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...

. He went then to the Leverndale School of Nursing in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 and the West Cumberland School of Nursing in Whitehaven

Whitehaven

Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...

.

MacKenzie was student nurse at the Leverndale Hospital from 1958 to 1961 and West Cumberland Hospital

West Cumberland Hospital

West Cumberland Hospital is a hospital in Hensingham, a suburb of Whitehaven in Cumbria.Under the management of the North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, together with the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, they serve 34,000 residents in north Cumbria....

 from 1964 to 1966. Since 1969, he had worked for the Confederation of Health Service Employees

Confederation of Health Service Employees

The Confederation of Health Service Employees was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service...

, first as assistant regional secretary, then from 1970 to 1974 as regional secretary for Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

 and East Midlands

East Midlands

The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...

. He was national officer from 1974 to 1983, assistant general secretary from 1983 to 1987 and general secretary

General secretary

-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...

 from 1987 to 1993.

MacKenzie is a member of UNISON

UNISON

UNISON is the largest trade union in the United Kingdom with over 1.3 million members.The union was formed in 1993 when three public sector trade unions, the National and Local Government Officers Association , the National Union of Public Employees and the Confederation of Health Service...

, had been associate general secretary between 1993 and 2000.

In 1966 he received the Lindsay Robertson Gold Medal for Nurse of the Year, and in 1999 he was created a life peer

Life peer

In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...

 as Baron MacKenzie of Culkein, of Assynt in Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein was married to Anna Morrison from 1961 to 1991; they have one son and three daughters.