MacDougall was educated at Templehall Junior Secondary School in Kirkcaldy, Fife. He later obtained a diploma in industrial management and a certificate in naval architecture studies. He began work as an apprentice caulker riveter at Rosyth Dockyard, but his main working life was spent as a boilermaker from 1964 at the oil rig construction yard in Methil. He became a shop steward for the GMB trade union, later full-time Shop Steward Convenor.
Political career
Fife councillor
After joining the Labour Party in 1981, MacDougall was elected as a Labour Party member of Fife Regional Council for Burntisland the following year. He became leader of the regional council in 1987, formally as Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, leaving work to be a full-time councillor, and serving until the Regional Council was abolished in the reform of local government. MacDougall was elected to the new Fife unitary council in 1995 and became Convenor of the council when it assumed its powers in April 1996. MacDougall's position as leader led him to accept several other appointments, including as Chair of the Rosyth Dockyard and Naval Base Coordinating Committee, a director of Fife Enterprise, and Chair and director of Community Business Fife Ltd. In the mid-1990s he led the council's efforts to keep the Rosyth base open, including writing to every Conservative MP to ask them to support a defence review not led by the Treasury. He was a member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention which established the framework for the Scottish Parliament.
Parliament
When Henry McLeish announced that he would stand down from his UK Parliament seat in Central Fife on moving to the Scottish Parliament, MacDougall was thought to be likely to be beaten to the selection as his successor by the former Labour Party general secretaryAlex Rowley. However MacDougall was announced as the winner of the ballot. MacDougall was slightly embarrassed during the election campaign when his son Scott played a kilted Scottish National Party candidate in a party broadcast. MacDougall won with a majority of 10,075. Within months he was facing criticism for lack of activity, being named by a Daily Mail survey as the third least active Scottish backbench MP.
Boundary changes
A boundary review cutting the number of United Kingdom Parliamentary seats in Scotland put MacDougall's seat in danger by enlarging it with parts taken from Kirkcaldy; it was rumoured that Kirkcaldy MP Lewis Moonie intended to challenge MacDougall. MacDougall was said to be "absolutely distraught" and intended to defend himself. He was mentioned as a potential candidate for the Central Fife constituency in the Scottish Parliament when Henry McLeish announced his retirement; however the selection went to his successor as council leader, Christine May. MacDougall won the selection for the new Glenrothes constituency when Lewis Moonie opted to retire instead.
Burns translation
To celebrate Burns Night in 2003, MacDougall had some of Robert Burns' most famous poems translated out of the Scots language into contemporary English to make them comprehensible for English guests. When Labour MPs were reported to be plotting to get Tony Blair to resign the leadership in favour of Gordon Brown, MacDougall was quoted as a supporter of Brown in opposing the plotting as not in his interests.
Illness and death
In May 2007 MacDougall revealed that he had serious health problems. He had had a lung removed after being diagnosed with asbestosis, which he blamed on his work in shipyards, but said that his doctor expected him to return to full health "in a couple of weeks". In October it was said that he was likely to stand down in the event of a snap general election; however no election was called. MacDougall was not recorded as having participated in any Parliamentary votes from early December 2007, and by June 2008 it was clear that his health problems were serious and there was a rumour that he would have to resign. However another rumour said that he was recovering and likely to return to work. MacDougall attended the House of Commons on 11 June 2008 to support the government on a knife-edge vote on pre-charge detention periods, giving an interview in which he admitted to having had an operation for pleural mesothelioma; he declared his intention to stand for re-election. However, MacDougall died of mesothelioma at 6 AM on 13 August 2008 at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
