John Jackson Mackay, Baron Mackay of Ardbrecknish (15 November 1938 – 21 February 2001) was a Scottish

Conservative and Unionist Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. ...

politician.

Early life

Mackay was born in 1938, the son of Jackson and Jean Mackay, and was educated at Campbeltown Grammar School, the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

(BSc) and

Jordanhill College of Education Jordanhill Campus is an historic estate within the boundaries of Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, which developed as a country estate. It is best known and most recently used as the home to the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathc ...

, where he graduated with a Diploma in Education. Mackay started his career as a mathematics teacher, becoming Head of Mathematics at

Oban High School Oban High School is a secondary school in Oban, Argyll, Scotland. The head teacher is Peter Bain. Mr Bain has been the head teacher since 2008. The roll is currently 874. A new school opened in April 2018. History Oban High School opened in ...

Political career

He was a Tory candidate for the

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in the

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) *Joelma fire, A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The bl ...

election having, in the climate of the era, accepted he could realise his original Liberal Parliamentary ambitions only by joining the Conservatives. He contested

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

in October 1974 and was

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 ...

for the constituency from 1979 to 1983, and after boundary changes, for

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

from 1983 to 1987, when he lost the seat to the Liberal candidate

Ray Michie Janet Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach (''née'' Bannerman; 4 February 1934 – 6 May 2008) was a Scottish speech therapist and Liberal Democrat politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Argyll and Bute for 14 years, from ...

– the daughter of Lord Bannerman, a local Liberal. Mackay was Parliamentary

Under-Secretary of State for Scotland The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland is a junior ministerial post (of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank) in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland. The post is also know ...

from 1982 to 1987 with responsibility for Health and Social Work and was Commons Scottish spokesman on Agriculture (which was the responsibility of the Earl of Mansfield sitting in the Lords). Against the advice of officials he supported a Private Member's Bill on solvent abuse, a scourge of the time, which became law in 1983. In Health he threw himself into the 1982 NHS strikes and a modernisation of mental health legislation.

House of Lords

Following his defeat, he was given a

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as Baron Mackay of Ardbrecknish, of Tayvallich in the District of

. He rejoined the government as a

Lord in Waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

in 1993. In January 1994, he joined the

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as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, being promoted later that year to become Minister of State at the

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, a post he held until 1997. During this time he was held in high regard by both the civil servants who worked with him and by the ex-Service community with whom he had regular contact in his role as War Pensions Minister. In addition, he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in the

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and was appointed to be a deputy lieutenant of the

city of Glasgow Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

on 7 January 1997. In opposition, he served as deputy leader of the Conservative peers.

Death

He died in 2001 in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

at the age of 62.

References

Sources

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983'' (London: Times Books, 1984). *''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1987'' (London: Times Books, 1988). * * *Roth, Andrew
Obituary: Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Retrieved 24 May 2013.

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, John Jackson 1938 births 2001 deaths Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Mackay of Ardbrecknish People educated at Dunoon Grammar School Scottish Conservative Party MPs Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom