Retiring MPs

At the very moment Michael Forsyth is covering anything not nailed down in tartan, the Labour Party is doing little to dispel the perception that the Scottish party is a puppet on a string being jerked elsewhere. Ruth Wishart in the Herald 10 th February 1997.

Retiring MPs

Constituency	MP	Party
Aberdeen North	Robert Hughes
Cumbernauld & Kilsyth	Norman Hogg
Glasgow Central	Mike Watson
Glasgow Pollock	Jimmy Dunnachie
Kilmarnock & Loudoun	William McKelvey
Motherwell South	Jeremy Bray
Dumfries	Sir Hector Monro
Eastwood	Allan Stewart
Inverness, Nairn & Lochaber	Sir Russell Johnston
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	Sir David Scott Steel

Ten say goodbye to the back-benches

From the Scotsman General Election 97 coverage

The ten members who are standing down include distinguished MPs who have been knighted for their public service: the Liberal Democrat MPs Sir David Steel and Sir Russell Johnston; and the Conservative MP, Sir Hector Monro.

Both Sir Hector and Sir Russell, though of different parties, have at least one thing in common - they have both been MPs for 33 years. Sir David isn't far behind, with 32 years' service.

Having risen to the highest position in the former Liberal Party, which he led for 12 years, Sir David, the MP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, announced in 1994 that he would be retiring at the next general election. His political career has embraced some of the most difficult and challenging times for the Liberal Party, including the Lib-Lab pact during the Callaghan Labour government and the trouble-torn merger with the Social Democratic Party.

"Politics is not just about power - something which I never expected to hold and which I therefore have not missed - it is about people," Sir David wrote in The Scotsman after announcing his intention to retire.

Often described as the "Boy David" because of his youthful appearance, he was first elected to the former Conservative constituency of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles at a by-election in 1965. He was then 27, becoming the youngest MP in the Commons, and he left his mark on this country with his pioneering abortion legislation in 1967.

Sir David, 60, is unlikely to disappear from politics. The chairman of the Scottish Constitutional Convention has been tipped as the future leader of a Scottish parliament.

His parliamentary colleague Sir Russell Johnston, 65, the MP for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber, made it known three years ago that he would not be seeking re-election. In the days before the European parliament was directly elected, he served in a dual role as MP and MEP. He came close to losing his then Inverness seat to the Tories, who campaigned on the slogan, "Russell's in Brussels". Sir Russell, known for both his stubbornness and his geniality, has remained loyal to the old Liberal traditions. Paddy Ashdown once called him a Liberal "to the marrow of his bones".

He intends to become increasingly involved in European matters - he is a member of the Council of Europe.

In his Dumfries constituency, Sir Hector Munro, 74, had a huge personal following. He has been described as first and last a constituency man, an old-fashioned ideal in British politics. During his long service, he sought to put his constituents before politics and sometimes rebelled against the party line.

A rugby enthusiast - he once played for Langholm and for the South of Scotland - Sir Hector was, for many years, a councillor in the former Dumfries County Council. He was sports minister during the early years of the Thatcher government.

He once said: "I think Scotland is much more likely to accept more middle-of-the-road Conservatism than the leanings to the Right we have had in recent years."

Also missing from the Commons in the next parliamentary session will be the controversial and colourful MP for Eastwood, Allan Stewart, 54. His 18-year political career came to a sudden end last month when he resigned after allegations about his personal life.

Robert Hughes, 65, has been the Labour MP for Aberdeen North for 27 years. In 1975, he resigned as Scottish Office minister for education and health, in protest at the pay policy of the Harold Wilson government.

Another retiring Labour MP, Sir Jeremy Bray, 66, has represented the Motherwell area since 1974. He was previously MP for Middlesborough, a seat he won from the Tories.

Also standing down is Jimmy Dunnachie, 66, a former Glasgow and Strathclyde councillor who entered parliament in 1974. He survived left-wing attempts to unseat him in the 1980s. Mr Dunnachie was Scottish whip between 1989-92.

Norman Hogg, 59, sent shock waves through his Cumbernauld & Kilsyth constituency party when he announced at the beginning of this month that he had decided to stand down for "personal reasons". Mr Hogg has been an MP since 1979.

Willie McKelvey, 62, the MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, who has represented the area for 18 years, decided to stand down after suffering a stroke.