John William MacDougall (8 December 1947 – 13 August 2008) was a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Glenrothes Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...

from the 2005 general election until his death; he was first 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. ...

for Central Fife in the 2001 general election. He was a low-profile MP who was loyal to the Labour government. From 2007 he was diagnosed with

malignant mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining ...

, and due to his illness, his participation in Parliament became fleeting, although he remained as an MP until his death in August the following year.

Early life

MacDougall was educated at Templehall Junior Secondary School in Kirkcaldy, Fife. He later obtained a diploma in industrial management and a certificate in naval architecture studies."Dod's Guide to the General Election, June 2001", Vacher Dod Publishing, 2001, p. 193. He began work as an apprentice caulker riveter at

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was ...

,Erlend Clouston, "MoD leak alleges 'deceit and betrayal' over Rosyth", ''The Guardian'', 4 May 1994. but his main working life was spent as a boilermaker from 1964 at the oil rig construction yard in Methil.John MacDougall, Your MP
biography from personal website, accessed 14 June 2008. He became a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

for the GMB trade union, later full-time Shop Steward Convenor.James Landale, Tom Baldwin, "The working-class Labour male is back", ''The Times'', 1 June 2000, p. 16.

Political career

Fife councillor

After joining the Labour Party in 1981, MacDougall was elected as a Labour Party member of Fife Regional Council for BurntislandJohn Knox,
Life after unknown Labour soldier
,

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

, retrieved 2 October 2008. the following year. He became leader of the regional council in 1987, formally as Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, leaving work to be a full-time councillor, and serving until the Regional Council was abolished in the reform of local government. MacDougall was elected to the new Fife unitary council in 1995 and became

Convenor The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the council when it assumed its powers in April 1996. MacDougall's position as leader led him to accept several other appointments, including as Chair of the

and Naval Base Coordinating Committee, a director of Fife Enterprise, and Chair and director of Community Business Fife Ltd. In the mid-1990s he led the council's efforts to keep the Rosyth base open, including writing to every Conservative MP to ask them to support a defence review not led by the Treasury.Erlend Clouston, "Fife shivers on base line", ''The Guardian'', 21 June 1994. He was a member of the

Scottish Constitutional Convention The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of t ...

which established the framework for the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

Parliament

When Henry McLeish announced that he would stand down from his

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

seat in Central Fife on moving to the

, MacDougall was thought to be likely to be beaten to the selection as his successor by the former Labour Party general secretary Alex Rowley.Catherine MacLeod, "Labour's battle of the sexes", ''The Herald'', 13 April 2000, p. 7. However MacDougall was announced as the winner of the ballot. MacDougall won with a majority of 10,075.

Boundary changes

A boundary review cutting the number of United Kingdom Parliamentary seats in Scotland put MacDougall's seat in danger by enlarging it with parts taken from Kirkcaldy; it was rumoured that Kirkcaldy MP

Lewis Moonie Lewis George Moonie, Baron Moonie (born 25 February 1947) is a British politician. He was the Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy from 1987 to 2005. Early life He attended the Grove Academy in Dundee. He studied medi ...

intended to challenge MacDougall.Fraser Nelson, Alison Hardie, "Deal struck to save Brown in seats review", ''Scotsman'', 7 February 2002, p. 9. MacDougall was said to be "absolutely distraught" and intended to defend himself.Charlie Methven, "MP edged out to keep Brown in the Commons", ''Daily Telegraph'', 2 April 2002, p. 22. He was mentioned as a potential candidate for the Central Fife constituency in the

when Henry McLeish announced his retirement;Hamish Macdonell, "McLeish to quit parliament at next elections", ''Scotsman'', 6 September 2002, p. 1 however the selection went to his successor as council leader, Christine May. MacDougall won the selection for the new

constituency when Lewis Moonie opted to retire instead.Hamish Macdonell, "Ochil veteran latest Labour MP to retire", ''Scotsman'', 2 February 2004, p. 2.

Burns translation

To celebrate

Burns Night A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night ( sc ...

in 2003, MacDougall had some of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

' most famous poems translated out of the

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...

into contemporary English to make them comprehensible for English guests.Lindsay McGarvie, "To a Sassenach: John translates Burns poems for English MPs", ''Sunday Mail'', 26 January 2003, p. 27. When Labour MPs were reported to be plotting to get

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

to resign the leadership in favour of

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

, MacDougall was quoted as a supporter of Brown in opposing the plotting as not in his interests.James Kirkup, Gerri Peev, "PM caves in and will make public promise on resigning", ''Scotsman'', 7 September 2006, p. 2.

Illness and death

In May 2007 MacDougall revealed that he had serious health problems. He had had a lung removed after being diagnosed with

asbestosis Asbestosis is long-term inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis, scarring of the human lung, lungs due to asbestos, asbestos fibers. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, and chest pain, chest tightness. Complications may include ...

, which he blamed on his work in shipyards, but said that his doctor expected him to return to full health "in a couple of weeks".Scott Hussey, "Disease fight for MP John", ''The Sun'', 18 May 2007, p. 2. In October it was said that he was likely to stand down in the event of a snap general election;"Drumlanrig", ''Scotland on Sunday'', 7 October 2007, p. 19. however no election was called. MacDougall was not recorded as having participated in any Parliamentary votes from early December 2007, and by June 2008 it was clear that his health problems were serious and there was a rumour that he would have to resign.Vincent Moss, "By-election Fear for PM", ''Sunday Mirror'', 8 June 2008, p. 8. However another rumour said that he was recovering and likely to return to work."Drumlanrig", ''Scotland on Sunday'', 8 June 2008, p. 17. MacDougall attended the House of Commons on 11 June 2008 to support the government on a knife-edge vote on pre-charge detention periods, giving an interview in which he admitted to having had an operation for pleural mesothelioma; he declared his intention to stand for re-election."Cancer MP's vow", ''Daily Record'', 11 June 2008, p. 2. However, MacDougall died of mesothelioma at 6 AM on 13 August 2008 at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

References

External links

*
John MacDougall
official site

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_macdougall/glenrothes TheyWorkForYou.com – John MacDougall MP* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdougall, John 1947 births 2008 deaths Deaths from cancer in Scotland Scottish Labour councillors Deaths from mesothelioma Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies Scottish Labour politicians Scottish trade unionists UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Politicians from Dunfermline British boilermakers