John McAllion (born 13 February 1948) is a campaigner for the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland. The party was founded in 1998. It c ...

, as well as a former Labour Party

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 o ...

(MP), Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), and convenor of

Tayside Regional Council Tayside ( gd, Taobh Tatha) was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named for the River Tay. It was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, following rec ...

. He is also convener of the Scottish Fairtrade Forum.

Early life

McAllion was born in Glasgow, where he was educated at St Augustine's RC Comprehensive School in Milton. Following a brief period spent working as a clerical employee for the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

, he was admitted to the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

to study modern and medieval history, graduating with a second-class honours degree in 1972. After a further year at

Dundee College of Education Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, he was then employed by the city's education department to teach history at

St Saviour's RC High School St Saviour's RC High School was a state secondary school in Dundee, Scotland. It was a denominational school within the Catholic religious tradition, although it welcomed students from all religious backgrounds. The school closed in June 2008 a ...

(1973–78) and social studies at Balgowan School (1978–82).

Political history

McAllion was originally a member of the Scottish Labour Party (SLP) that was formed in 1976 by

Jim Sillars James Sillars (born 4 October 1937) is a Scottish politician and campaigner for Scottish independence. Sillars served as a Labour Party MP for South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976. He founded and led the pro- Scottish Home Rule Scottish Labour Par ...

; when the SLP collapsed, he chose to join the Labour Party (unlike Sillars, who joined the Scottish National Party). In 1982 he was recruited by the Glasgow Labour MP Bob McTaggart as a research assistant. Two years later, he was elected to Tayside Regional Council, becoming the council's convenor in 1986. At the 1987 general election McAllion was elected as the Labour MP for Dundee East, defeating SNP leader Gordon Wilson, who had been the sitting MP since February 1974. McAllion was a member of Scottish Labour Action, putting him on the

Scottish nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and Scottish national identity, national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish ...

wing of the Labour Party, and of the Campaign for Socialism, placing him firmly on the left of the party. As befitted a member of the Scottish Labour Action group he strongly favoured

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

for Scotland, and was often outspoken in his defence of civic-minded Scottish nationalism. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

he was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent Dundee East. As an MSP, he furthered his reputation as a left-winger, rebelling several times against the Labour-led Scottish Executive. He was also convenor of the Scottish Parliament's Petitions Committee. In 2000 he helped establish the ''

Scottish Left Review The ''Scottish Left Review'' is a bi-monthly magazine publication of the Scottish left. It was established in 2000 by several prominent left-wing figures, including Bob Thomson, Henry McCubbin, Jimmy Reid, Roseanna Cunningham, and John McAllion. ...

'' publication. At the 2003 parliament election he lost his seat to

Shona Robison Shona McRory Robison (born 26 May 1966) is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish ...

, the SNP candidate. The

(SSP) pulled out of contesting the seat in favour of McAllion, but ironically this may have assisted his defeat. After the election defeat, McAllion resigned his membership of the Labour Party, subsequently joining the Scottish Socialist Party. On 9 February 2006, McAllion stood for the SSP in the

Dunfermline and West Fife by-election The Dunfermline and West Fife by-election was held on 9 February 2006, following the death of the sitting Labour MP Rachel Squire, on 6 January. The by-election was the first seat to change hands in the 2005 Parliament, when Willie Rennie wo ...

, coming fifth place with 1.6% of the vote. He was elected to the SSP executive at its conference in March 2006. He was elected co-chair (along with Morag Balfour) at its conference in October 2007, but he stood down during his term of office for personal reasons. However, he has remained active in campaigning with the party, particularly in the run-up to the

independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not alwa ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McAllion, John 1948 births Living people Politicians from Glasgow Scottish Labour councillors Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Scottish Parliament for Dundee constituencies Scottish Labour Party (1976) politicians Scottish Socialist Party politicians UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 European democratic socialists Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Labour MSPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dundee constituencies Scottish republicans