Donald Stewart (politician)

Donald James Stewart PC (born October 17, 1920 in Stornoway ; † August 23, 1992 ibid) was a Scottish politician of the Scottish National Party (SNP). Stewart could not finish his autobiography "A Scot at Westminster" during his lifetime. His family published it posthumously in 1994.

Political career

In 1952, Stewart ran for the first time in national elections when after the death of Labor MP Thomas Cook in his constituency of Dundee East by-elections were required. With a share of 7.5% of the vote, Stewart achieved the lowest result, trailing Labor candidate George Thomson and Conservative Paul Cowcher .

In the Western Isles constituency , Labor politician Malcolm Macmillan has held the mandate since the general election in 1935 . In the 1970 general election , Stewart applied for the mandate of this constituency and represented the SNP there for the first time. With a share of the vote of 43.1%, he won the mandate and subsequently moved into the British House of Commons . One reason for Macmillan's defeat may be the lack of a solution to the problems of the island constituency's population, who struggled with isolation and inadequate infrastructure. Initially, Stewart was the only SNP MP in this electoral term until Margo MacDonald was able to win the November 8, 1973 by-elections in the Glasgow Govan constituency . Stewart defended his mandate in the general election in February 1974 and held it in the subsequent elections in October 1974 . In parliament he was the leader of the SNP parliamentary group, which had meanwhile grown to eleven members, and held this position until he left.

The subsequent elections in 1979 and 1983 decided Stewart with voting shares of over 50% for themselves. In 1982 he was elected party president (non-chairman) and remained in this position until 1987. At the end of the electoral term, Stewart retired from active political life. His successor in the constituency of Western Isles was Ian Smith , who was unable to prevail in the 1987 general election against the Labor candidate Calum MacDonald . It was not until 2005 that Angus MacNeil succeeded in winning the constituency back for the SNP.

Web links

• Donald Stewart at the Hansard (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Donald Stewart in the Hansard (English)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Torcuil Crichton: Former SNP leader Stewart dies at 71 , in: The Herald Scotland, August 24, 1992.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Information from the SNP Aberdeen
4. ↑ 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. 
5. ^ Western Isles , in: JA Agnew: Place and Politics - The Geographical Mediation of State and Society , Taylor and Francis, 2014. ISBN 978-1-3176-3060-9
6. ↑ Results of the February 1974 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 lower house elections in October 1974 ( Memento of the original from March 19, 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. 
8. ↑ Results of the 1979 general election ( 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. 
9. ↑ 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. 
10. ↑ Results of the lower house elections in 1987 ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2011 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 lower house elections 2005 ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 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.