David Cleghorn Thomson (9 October 1900 – 23 April 1980), was a Scottish journalist, author, poet,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and Labour Party politician. He was notably Director of the BBC's Scottish Region.

Background

Thomson was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the son of Dr John Thomson FRCPE and his wife, Isobel Macphail. The family lived at 14 Coates Crescent in Edinburgh's fashionable West End. He was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

, the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Professional career

In 1923 Thomson was the Editor of

Oxford Poetry ''Oxford Poetry'' is a literary magazine based in Oxford, England. It is currently edited by Luke Allan. The magazine is published by Partus Press. Founded in 1910 by Basil Blackwell, its editors have included Dorothy L. Sayers, Aldous Huxley, R ...

, a literary magazine. From 1926 to 1933 he was Director of the BBC's Scottish Region. In 1931 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Francis Albert Eley Crew Francis Albert Eley Crew FRS FRSE LLD (2 March 1886 – 26 May 1973) was an English animal geneticist. He was a pioneer in his field leading to the University of Edinburgh’s place as a world leader in the science of animal genetics. He was ...

Robert Kerr Hannay Robert Kerr Hannay (31 December 1867, Glasgow – 19 March 1940, Edinburgh) was a Scottish historian. He served as Historiographer Royal for Scotland and Chair of Scottish History and Palaeography at the University of Edinburgh. He collected ...

, Sir James Walker and

John (Ian) Bartholomew John Bartholomew, generally known as Ian Bartholomew (12 February 1890 – 9 February 1962) was a Scottish cartographer and geographer. Life John was the son of John George Bartholomew and Janet MacDonald. He was educated at Merchiston Castl ...

. He later resigned from the Society. In 1960 and 1961, Thomson edited ''Saltire Review'', a magazine of Scottish arts, letters and life published by the

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...

Political career

At the age of just 23, Thomson was Liberal candidate for the Willesden West division of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

at the 1923 General Election. This was not a promising seat for a Liberal; no candidate had stood in 1922 and in 1918 the Liberal came third with less than 9%. Thomson was to also come third, but polled 18%. He returned to his native Edinburgh and was Liberal candidate for the Edinburgh South division at the 1924 General Election. At this election he was reputedly the Liberal Party's youngest candidate in Scotland. Edinburgh South was a Unionist seat that they had gained from the Liberals in 1918. In 1923 his predecessor as Liberal candidate had come within 2,500 votes of winning. This was a seat where the Labour Party had never run a candidate before, and they did not put up a candidate against Thomson. During the campaign, he expressed support for Scottish Home Rule, saying that 'he believed Scotland should have a Parliament of some sort in which to discuss matters purely concerning herself, but he was not in favour of the repeal of the Union'. With the national tide running against the Liberals, Thomson was well beaten and was only able to poll 36% of the vote. Between 1918 and 1922 the Liberal Party had been split between those who supported the Coalition Government led by

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

and those who went into opposition, led by

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

. The Liberals had re-united for the 1923 and 1924 elections. At the 1924 election, Asquith lost his seat but remained party leader. Lloyd George became Chairman of the Parliamentary Party. A section of the party who remained anti-Lloyd George formed themselves into a 'Radical Group' (sic) and Thomson was the group's first secretary. Despite his defeat in 1924, Thomson was sufficiently motivated to remain prospective Liberal candidate for Edinburgh South. However he resigned this position in 1926 when he became a Director at the BBC. His job at the BBC restricted his involvement in politics, so he did not contest the general elections of 1929 and 1931. After he left the BBC, he returned to political activity, but this time with the Labour Party. He was Labour candidate for the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

division of

at the 1935 General Election. Leith had been a safe Liberal seat and the sitting member was a supporter of the National Government. Thomson was unable to gain the seat, though he did reduce the majority. He was then Labour candidate for the

1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election The 1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election was a by-election held from 27 to 31 January 1936 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons. Vacancy The seat had become vacant when the ...

. His National Government opponent on this occasion was former Labour Prime Minister

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

. Labour candidates had always polled poorly in this University seat and Thomson was no different; he came third with only 12% of the vote. He was prospective Labour candidate for the West Renfrewshire division for the general election expected to take place in 1939/40. This had been a Labour seat until 1931 so his prospects for election were good. However, the outbreak of war postponed the election and by the time the election came along in 1945, the Labour Party had chosen another candidate who won the seat. He did not stand for parliament again.British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1973, FWS Craig

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, David Cleghorn 1900 births 1980 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Scottish Renaissance 20th-century Scottish writers 20th-century Scottish poets Scottish magazine editors BBC executives Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates