Margo Macdonald 1943 - 2014
People's Politician
Political firebrand, maverick, people’s politician, larger than life, free spirit, sparkling jewel of Holyrood, heroine of the Nationalist cause, forthright and frank, a conviction politician to the end.
Margo has been described in many ways, not all of them complimentary, but the outpouring of sadness and regret from across the political spectrum following her death from Parkinson’s Disease demonstrated the genuine respect and affection she had earned, particularly in her latter years as an Independent MSP. There was unanimous agreement that Scottish politics without Margo would be poorer, less colourful and less interesting.
Born and educated in Hamilton and politically active all her life, Margo was only 29 when she was elected SNP Vice Chairman in 1972. She went on to be Deputy Leader (1974-1979), and then a member of the party’s National Executive. She first came to national prominence after sensationally winning what had been one of Labour’s safest seats in the 1973 Glasgow Govan by-election. Although she lost the seat only four months later at the General Election, she had still managed in her short time at Westminster to raise the standard for an independent Scotland.
A leading member of the 79 Group, Margo often came into conflict with the more moderate wing of the SNP, whom she branded Tartan Tories. She resigned her membership twice – in protest at the expulsion of some members of the 79 Group in 1982 and again in 2003 after being pushed off the top of the Lothians’ regional list for Holyrood, giving her no chance of re-election. Undaunted she stood as an Independent and waltzed home with 27,000 votes! She was the only Independent to survive the 2007 election and be re-elected in 2011.
There were no half measures – never afraid to tackle controversial issues, Margo consistently defended the underdog, wanting not only Scotland, but the world, to be a fairer and more just place. As well as playing a major role in the independence movement for over 40 years, she was Director of Shelter Scotland, spoke up for sex workers, condemned overspending on the Holyrood Parliament building, campaigned for the Right to Die and much more.
Her bill to legalise prostitution tolerance zones never made it onto the statute books but her lifelong fight for Scottish independence fared better, with MSPs agreeing to a Referendum after the 2011 election. Though she would undoubtedly have been disappointed with the result, she would have been hugely proud of the aftermath, not least the surge in nationalist support.
For a while it seemed that her lasting legacy might be Right to Die, a debate she described as not a theory with me . Despite the failure of her first attempt in 2010 to give terminally ill people the right to assisted suicide, she had continued the fight and was still actively working on a revised version when she died. Green MSP Patrick Harvie vowed to continue in her name, and it was a measure of her standing in Holyrood that MSPs took a rare decision to allow this. In the end, however, a majority of MSPs remained unconvinced that sufficient safeguards were in place and on 27th May 2015 the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was voted out. Only time will tell if Patrick Harvie’s pledge to address the perceived problems with the bill will ultimately be more successful.
At her memorial service her husband, Jim Sillars, said The brightest light in the Scottish political firmament has gone out.
But perhaps the last word should go to Margo herself: If you put your head above the parapet you get shot at, that goes with the territory, and try as I might I've never been able to keep it below the parapet.
Barbara Badger
Sources:
Who’s Who in Scotland 2013.
Who’s Who 2015.
Margo MacDonald Biography: .en.wikipedia.org
Numerous obituaries, appreciations and reports of the Memorial Service (press, BBC and online).
