Alex Eadie

Alexander Mark Hughes Eadie (born June 23, 1920 in Buckhaven , Fife , † January 26, 2012 in East Wemyss , Fife ) was a Scottish politician .

Life

Eadie was born in Buckhaven in 1920 as the son of a miner. He attended Buckhaven Senior Secondary School , which he left at the age of 14 to take a job in a coal mine. Eadie later studied mining engineering part-time and remained in this profession at Lochhead Colliery until 1965. He then worked as an employee of the mining union, which he had been a member of since the beginning of his career. In 1961 he stood for the union chairman elections. Despite being considered an outsider, Eadie almost won the election.

In 1941 Eadie married Jemima Ritchie . The marriage produced a son. His wife died in 1981. Eadie married Janice Murdoch in 1983 . Eadie passed away in 2012 after a brief illness at his home in East Wemyss. His son Bob is a Labor Party councilor for the Fife Council Area . His wife, Helen Eadie, is a Labor MP in the Scottish Parliament .

Political career

In 1943 Eadie joined the Labor Party and was elected chairman of the Junge Co-operatives in 1945 . For around twenty years he represented the Labor Party on the Fife Region Council. Eadie first appeared in the 1959 general election to elections from the national level. In the constituency of Ayr, however, he was defeated by the unionist Thomas Moore . In the same constituency he was defeated in 1964 by the conservative George Younger .

For the 1966 general election , Eadie first ran for the Midlothian constituency . This was held by his party colleague James Hill , who no longer ran in these elections, since 1959. With a share of 56.6% of the vote, Eadie clearly prevailed against his opponents, the Conservative Party and the SNP . The following year he received a position as Parliamentary Private Secretary under the junior minister Margaret Herbison , which he was removed after four months because he did not want to follow the political line of the higher minister.

In the following general election in 1970 , February and October 1974 , 1979 , 1983 and 1987 Eadie held his mandate and thus represented the constituency of Midlothian in parliament for 26 years.

Eadie, who is described as a down-to-earth and honest character, stayed true to his professional background and advocated coal mining. In 1973 he was named party spokesman for energy and held that role until he left parliament. After the Labor Party electoral victory in February 1974, Eadie was appointed Secretary of State for Coal and held this position until 1979.

Works

• Alex Eadie, Jim Sillars : Don't butcher Scotland's future , Ayr Labor Party, Ayr, 1968.

Web links

• Alexander Eadie at Hansard (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} The Telegraph: Alex Eadie , January 26, 2012
2. ↑ ^{a b} BBC News: Former Midlothian MP Alex Eadie dies aged 91 , January 26, 2012.
3. ^ The Scotsman: Alex Eadie served 'diligently' says former PM Brown , Jan. 27, 2012.
4. ↑ Results of the lower house elections in 1959 ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Results of the 1964 general election ( Memento of the original from August 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Results of the 1966 general election ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Results of the 1970 lower house elections ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ Results of the February 1974 general election ( Memento of the original from January 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ Results of the lower house elections in October 1974 ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Results of the 1979 lower house elections ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Results of the parliamentary elections in 1983 ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Results of the lower house elections in 1987 ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.