![3 to 5 Moray Place, Edinburgh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/3_to_5_Moray_Place%2C_Edinburgh.JPG)
James Scott (8 March 1876 – 30 October 1939) was a
Scottish lawyer and
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
politician.
Family and education
James Scott was the son of a railway superintendent from
Forres
Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There ...
, also named James Scott. He was educated at
Forres Academy
Forres Academy is a comprehensive community school serving the town of Forres, Scotland, and its rural catchment area in west Moray. Similar to other Scottish schools pupils are able to leave after the fourth year of schooling, therefore fifth and ...
and at 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 the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. In 1910 he married Georgina Bowman Geddes from
Buckhaven
Buckhaven is a town on the east coast of Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth between East Wemyss and Methil. Buckhaven is on the Fife Coastal Path, and near to Wemyss Caves and Largo Bay.
History
The name Buckhaven is probably from the ...
in
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
and they had two sons.
Career
Scott was a
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
to the
Supreme Courts of Scotland
The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.
The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, and ...
and a
notary public and was a partner in the firm of Mssrs. Robert Stewart and Scott of Edinburgh. He also served on a number of important Scottish public bodies. He was a member of the Game and Heather Burning Committee in 1921; a Deputy Chairman for Trade Boards for Jute, Flax, and Made-up Textiles, 1921–24; Vice-President and Trustee of the Scottish Rural Workers Approved Society and founder of the Scottish National Union of Allotment-holders.
Politics
Scott contested
Moray and Nairn as a Liberal at the
1922 general election and
West Renfrewshire in
1923
Events
January–February
* January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory).
* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...
. In
October 1924 he unsuccessfully fought
Kincardine and West Aberdeen but was eventually elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
at the
1929 general election when he gained Kincardine and West Aberdeen by the narrow majority of 668 votes beating the sitting
Unionist MP C M Barclay-Harvey. In 1931 he served as
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
to the
Secretary of State for Scotland
The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...
, Sir
Archie Sinclair
Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party.
Backgr ...
in the
National Government. At the
1931 general election Barclay-Harvey won the seat back in a straight fight with Scott. Although the Liberal Party had agreed to support the National Government of
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 ...
at the 1931 general election, with some reservations over the traditional Liberal policy of
Free Trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
, neither Scott nor Barclay-Harvey contested the election using the label National. Barclay-Harvey presumably did not feel he needed to stand aside for Scott, even though he was the sitting member of a party supporting the coalition – probably as the seat was closely contested and he knew he had a good chance of re-election and perhaps because Scott was known as a strong supporter of Free Trade.
Putative by-election candidate
In 1934, Scott was selected as Liberal candidate for
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. A by-election arose there in 1935 when
Lord Scone
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage ...
, the sitting
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
MP, succeeded his father as
Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield
Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Nottingham, and Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Middlesex, are two titles in the Peerage of Great Britain that have been united under a single holder since 1843.
History
The titles Earl of Mansfield (in ...
and went to the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. However at the eleventh hour, the local Liberal Association decided to select the then 76-year-old
Francis Norie-Miller, (who had been the Liberal candidate at Perth at the 1931 general election) as they had been told that the Conservatives would be willing to support him as the National government candidate. The decision angered Liberal Party headquarters and they sent the Scottish Liberal Whip,
Sir Robert Hamilton, to speak to a meeting of the local Association. The Association ungallantly refused to hear him however and Hamilton issued a statement saying how the decision struck at the very heart of Liberalism in Perth and throughout Scotland. Scott was also understandably unhappy. He said he would have been willing to step aside for Norie-Miller if he had been standing as a Liberal but he was trying to be loyal to a free and independent Liberal Party. In the end, supported in his decision by the party in London whose object was damage-limitation in clashes with the Simonite Liberal Nationals, Scott opted not to fight a hopeless cause and Norie-Miller, was elected as the Liberal National MP for Perth in the by-election of 16 April 1935. Perhaps significantly, Norie-Miller did not stand for re-election at the
1935 general election a few months later when the contest was a straight fight between Unionist and Labour candidates, resulting in a large Conservative majority.
Scott was next approached to stand at the
Combined Scottish Universities by-election in January 1936 as an Independent Liberal. He declared he was willing to do so if sufficient support was forthcoming but clearly he felt this was not the case as he later announced he would not be standing. In the event, the election was won comfortably by former prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, the
National Labour candidate.
Death
Scott died suddenly at his home 5, Moray Place, Edinburgh on 30 October 1939.
[The Times, 31 October 1939]
Publications
* ''Agriculture and Land Value Taxation: Three Papers'' (with F C R Douglas & A R McDougal), London 1930
* ''The Land Value Tax (notes on the application of the Act to Scotland'') with H Samuels and P Fores, London 1931
* ''The Law of Smallholdings in Scotland'', Edinburgh 1933
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, James
1876 births
1939 deaths
Scottish Liberal Party MPs
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
UK MPs 1929–1931
People educated at Forres Academy
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Alumni of the University of London