Margo MacDonald
Encyclopedia
Margo MacDonald MSP
(Scottish Gaelic: Mairead NicDhòmhnaill, born 19 April 1943) is a Scottish
politician
and former Scottish National Party
MP
and Deputy Leader. She is presently an Independent
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for the Lothians region
.
, and educated at Hamilton Academy
; she trained as a teacher of physical education
.
Margo MacDonald is married to former politician and columnist Jim Sillars
, who won the 1988 Glasgow Govan by-election
for the SNP.
Her daughter Petra is married to one half of The Proclaimers
, Craig Reid and they have four children (Rosanne, Lena, Peter and John).
, Margo MacDonald won the Glasgow Govan by-election, 1973
, as a Scottish National Party
(SNP) candidate; Govan had until then been a Labour
stronghold. She failed to retain the seat in the following general election of February 1974
, but became Deputy Leader of the SNP in 1974, a post she held until 1979.
A political left-winger
, she was prominent in the socialist 79 Group
and left the party in 1982 due to this group's proscription.
She began to establish herself as a forceful presenter of various radio and television programmes, including the short-lived Colour Supplement for Radio 4
in the mid-1980s. She currently writes regularly for Scottish newspapers including the Edinburgh Evening News
.
By the mid-1990s she had returned to the SNP and in 1999, she was elected to the Scottish Parliament
, representing the Lothians. This period marked her becoming less influential with the leadership of the SNP, firstly under Alex Salmond
and then John Swinney
, having been viewed as being in the SNP Fundamentalist
mould and having supported Alex Neil in the party leadership election in 2000. This culminated in her being placed fifth on the SNP list for Lothians for the 2003 Parliament election, whereas she had been first in 1999. This effectively ended her chances of being elected as an SNP MSP and she decided to stand as an independent. She was officially expelled from the SNP on 28 January 2003.
She was re-elected as an independent MSP at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, and again in 2007 and 2011. After her 2007 re-election MacDonald stood to become Presiding Officer
, but lost the ballot to Alex Fergusson
.
In 2002 she stated that she had Parkinson's Disease
, and had known about the diagnosis for six years.
in the making of a documentary about Assisted Dying
. As a Parkinson's sufferer, MacDonald has been a long time campaigner for Assisted Dying, saying "As someone with a degenerative condition - Parkinson's - this debate is not a theory with me. The possibility of having the worst form of the disease at the end of life has made me think about unpleasant things. I feel strongly that, in the event of losing my dignity or being faced with the prospect of a painful or protracted death, I should have the right to choose to curtail my own, and my family's, suffering."
In the programme, MacDonald travelled around Scotland
and met with fellow sufferers and investigated the pros and cons of Assisted Dying. MacDonald's views on the subject are very well documented, and she is a very strong supporter for a change in the laws throughout the United Kingdom
to allow Assisted Dying, stating "Online, euthanasia campaigners show viewers how to make an 'exit hood' to end your life, and I know people with terminal illnesses now make the awful trip to Mexico to buy lethal doses of drugs to take their own lives, all because of our current laws. I am in no doubt that our legal system must change."
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
(Scottish Gaelic: Mairead NicDhòmhnaill, born 19 April 1943) is a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
politician
Politics of Scotland
The Politics of Scotland forms a distinctive part of the wider politics of Europe.Theoretically, the United Kingdom is de jure a "unitary state" with one sovereign parliament and government...
and former Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and Deputy Leader. She is presently an Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
for the Lothians region
Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
The Lothians was one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 to 2011. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
.
Background
Margo was born in Hamilton, South LanarkshireSouth Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
, and educated at Hamilton Academy
Hamilton Academy
Hamilton Academy was a school situated in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.Described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, Hamilton Academy featured in the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association Magazine article series on...
; she trained as a teacher of physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
.
Margo MacDonald is married to former politician and columnist Jim Sillars
Jim Sillars
Jim Sillars is a Scottish politician. He is married to current member of the Scottish Parliament, Margo MacDonald.-Early life:...
, who won the 1988 Glasgow Govan by-election
Glasgow Govan by-election, 1988
The Glasgow Govan by-election, in the British House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Govan, Scotland, was held on 10 November 1988. It was caused by the resignation of Bruce Millan as Member of Parliament for the constituency....
for the SNP.
Her daughter Petra is married to one half of The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twin brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid . They are probably best known for the songs "Letter from America", "I'm On My Way" and "I'm Gonna Be ". The band tours extensively throughout Europe and other continents...
, Craig Reid and they have four children (Rosanne, Lena, Peter and John).
Parliamentary career
A committed and vocal supporter of Scottish independenceScottish independence
Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, advocacy groups and individuals for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state, separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
, Margo MacDonald won the Glasgow Govan by-election, 1973
Glasgow Govan by-election, 1973
The Glasgow Govan by-election was held on 8 November 1973, following the death of John Rankin, Labour Party Member of Parliament for the Glasgow Govan constituency. Rankin had died one month earlier, on 8 October 1973. Rankin had held the seat since 1955. With the exception of a narrow Conservative...
, as a Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) candidate; Govan had until then been a Labour
Scottish Labour Party
The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
stronghold. She failed to retain the seat in the following general election of February 1974
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, but became Deputy Leader of the SNP in 1974, a post she held until 1979.
A political left-winger
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
, she was prominent in the socialist 79 Group
79 Group
The 79 Group was an internal faction within the Scottish National Party , named after the fact that it was formed in 1979. The group sought to persuade the SNP to take an active left-wing stance, arguing that it would win more support, and were highly critical of the established SNP leaders...
and left the party in 1982 due to this group's proscription.
She began to establish herself as a forceful presenter of various radio and television programmes, including the short-lived Colour Supplement for Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in the mid-1980s. She currently writes regularly for Scottish newspapers including the Edinburgh Evening News
Edinburgh Evening News
The Edinburgh Evening News is a local newspaper based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is published daily . It has a circulation of 68,000 and is owned by Johnston Press, which also owns The Scotsman and many regional titles throughout the UK.Much of the copy contained in the Evening News concerns local...
.
By the mid-1990s she had returned to the SNP and in 1999, she was elected to the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, representing the Lothians. This period marked her becoming less influential with the leadership of the SNP, firstly under Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
and then John Swinney
John Swinney
John Ramsey Swinney is the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth in the Scottish Government and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Perthshire North, having previously represented North Tayside...
, having been viewed as being in the SNP Fundamentalist
SNP fundamentalist
The fundamentalist ideology within the Scottish National Party is the belief that the SNP should emphasise its policy of Scottish independence more widely in order to achieve it...
mould and having supported Alex Neil in the party leadership election in 2000. This culminated in her being placed fifth on the SNP list for Lothians for the 2003 Parliament election, whereas she had been first in 1999. This effectively ended her chances of being elected as an SNP MSP and she decided to stand as an independent. She was officially expelled from the SNP on 28 January 2003.
She was re-elected as an independent MSP at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, and again in 2007 and 2011. After her 2007 re-election MacDonald stood to become Presiding Officer
Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament is the speaker of the Scottish Parliament, elected by the Members of the Scottish Parliament, by means of an exhaustive ballot. He or she also heads the Corporate Body of the Scottish Parliament and as such is viewed as a figurehead for the entire...
, but lost the ballot to Alex Fergusson
Alex Fergusson (Scottish politician)
Alex Fergusson MSP is a Scottish Politician, Member of the Scottish Parliament and served as the 3rd Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2007 till 2011....
.
In 2002 she stated that she had Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, and had known about the diagnosis for six years.
My Right to Die
In July 2008, MacDonald co-operated with BBC ScotlandBBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
in the making of a documentary about Assisted Dying
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
. As a Parkinson's sufferer, MacDonald has been a long time campaigner for Assisted Dying, saying "As someone with a degenerative condition - Parkinson's - this debate is not a theory with me. The possibility of having the worst form of the disease at the end of life has made me think about unpleasant things. I feel strongly that, in the event of losing my dignity or being faced with the prospect of a painful or protracted death, I should have the right to choose to curtail my own, and my family's, suffering."
In the programme, MacDonald travelled around Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and met with fellow sufferers and investigated the pros and cons of Assisted Dying. MacDonald's views on the subject are very well documented, and she is a very strong supporter for a change in the laws throughout the United Kingdom
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...
to allow Assisted Dying, stating "Online, euthanasia campaigners show viewers how to make an 'exit hood' to end your life, and I know people with terminal illnesses now make the awful trip to Mexico to buy lethal doses of drugs to take their own lives, all because of our current laws. I am in no doubt that our legal system must change."
External links
- Official Website
- Margo MacDonald MSP Scottish Parliament webpage
- Margo For Lothian Re-election campaign site
- Margo MacDonald Facebook
- @MargoForLothian Twitter