Sir Nicholas Hardwick Fairbairn, (24 December 1933 – 19 February 1995) was a Scottish politician.
He was the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
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
Kinross and Western Perthshire from October 1974 to 1983, and then for
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland ...
until his death in 1995. He was
Solicitor General for Scotland
, body =
, insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png
, incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC
, incumbentsince = 22 June 2021
, department = Crown Office and ...
from 1979 to 1982.
Early life
Nicholas Fairbairn was born in Edinburgh on 24 December 1933, the third child and second son of Mary Ann More-Gordon and
Ronald Fairbairn
William Ronald Dodds Fairbairn () FRSE (11 August 1889 – 31 December 1964) was a Scottish psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and a central figure in the development of the Object Relations Theory of psychoanalysis. He usually used, and was known as ...
, the
psychoanalyst
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...
.
According to Fairbairn's autobiography ''A Life is Too Short'' (1987), his father adopted the maternal role after his mother rejected him at birth. Fairbairn describes their relationship from when he could converse with his father, for the next 20 years until old age affected his father, like that of twins with his father treating him as "his equal and confidant". Fairbairn credited this relationship as enabling him to "withstand the trauma and rejection I felt... enabled me to feel secure for the rest of my life against any rejection or misfortune... made me profoundly in awe of father figures and left me with a consistent feeling... that I am still a child." Fairbairn also said he was named after
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...
as he was born on
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipatio ...
.
He was educated at
Loretto School
Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.
History
The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...
and 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 ...
, where he graduated with an MA and an LLB. At the age of 23, he was called to the Scots Bar.
[
In 1962 he married into the Scottish aristocracy—his wife, Hon. Elizabeth Mackay, was the daughter of the 13th ]Lord Reay
Lord Reay, of Reay in the County of Caithness, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Lord Reay (pronounced "ray") is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Mackay, whose lands in Strathnaver and northwest Sutherland were known as the Reay Country. ...
. They had four children and divorced in 1979.[ He began in ]Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
politics by standing in the Edinburgh Central seat (which had been a Labour-held marginal seat during the 1950s) in 1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriar ...
and 1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...
, positioning himself as a liberal Conservative.[
]
Political career
Fairbairn's career took off in the early 1970s. In 1972 he was appointed a Scottish Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...
(QC).[ After the former Prime Minister ]Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative politician who se ...
announced his retirement from Parliament between the 1974 elections, Fairbairn was selected to succeed him. He won the seat in October 1974 with a majority of just 53 votes over the Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
.[
His right-wing views endeared him to ]Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, and when she formed her Government after winning the 1979 general election she appointed him Solicitor-General for Scotland. On one occasion he wrote that the functions of this office were "to form a second pair of hands and often a first brain for the Lord Advocate
, body =
, insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg
, insigniasize = 110px
, image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png
, incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC
, incumbentsince = 22 June 2021
, appointer = Monarch on the advic ...
". When the Conservatives were elected Fairbairn was the only Scottish QC in the Scottish Parliamentary Conservative Party, and it is thought that as a senior advocate of some considerable achievement in the criminal courts, he fully expected to be appointed Lord Advocate. However, his colourful opinions and reputation are thought to have impelled the then Lord Justice General
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
, Lord Emslie, to tell Thatcher that the Scottish judiciary and legal profession were deeply opposed to having such a man as the senior law officer in Scotland. That led Thatcher to offer Fairbairn the secondary post of Solicitor-General for Scotland, and give the post of Lord Advocate to the then Dean of the Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a consti ...
, J P H Mackay QC, who was then not even a member of the Conservative Party.[
Fairbairn was known at ]Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...
for his flamboyant Scottish baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...
ial tartan
Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with S ...
dress. He always carried a silver miniature, working revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six r ...
on a chain attached to his belt. He was reputedly the only MP to use the House of Commons Parliamentary snuff box. He had a mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...
, Pamela Milne, who attempted suicide at his London home in 1981.
Just as it seemed he had managed to survive, a major controversy emerged in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. A prosecution was dropped in a case involving the gang rape and mutilation of a young woman after doctors determined she was too traumatized to serve as a credible witness. One journalist telephoned the Solicitor-General to ask why, and Fairbairn told him. This was a major breach of protocol, and Fairbairn had to resign.
In his resignation letter of 21 January 1982, he admitted to making "errors of judgment" in his dealings with the press and that in the circumstances "I ought no longer to remain in office as Solicitor-General for Scotland". After a media campaign, a private prosecution was brought by the victim in 1982 under ancient Scottish law. It was known as the Carol X case. All three of the perpetrators were convicted, with one sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In reporting his resignation, ''The Glasgow Herald
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
'' claimed that "it was clear" that his decision to leave office "had been forced upon him." According to the ''Herald'' up until the point he went to see Thatcher in the Prime Minister's room in the House of Commons, he "apparently had not considered resignation". However, when he arrived he was "confronted by a letter of resignation already typed out for him to sign." After a ten minute discussion he, "with some reluctance", agreed resignation was the best course of action. Matthew Parris noted that despite the manner of his departure he showed loyalty to Thatcher whom he described afterwards as "probably the warmest and kindest human being that those who have met her have ever encountered".
Fairbairn was again in the news in October 1982 when he was cited in the divorce case of investment consultant Alasdair MacInnes, having had an affair with MacInnes' wife Suzanne (whom Fairbairn ultimately married in 1983). When this was reported he launched an attack on the press for what he viewed as its "hypocritical moral crusades".
In 1983, Fairbairn was elected an honorary Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and he became a Trustee of the Royal Museums of Scotland in 1987. He was also President of the Society for the Preservation of Duddingston Village (an eastern suburb of Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore o ...
).
Fairbairn was knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
in the 1988 Birthday Honours for political service.
Views
''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' said about Fairbairn's politics, "At heart he was a libertarian who wanted to espouse human rights and civil liberties. Realising the temper of the times, he moved during the Seventies to the radical right: the clash this involved with his instinctive penchant for moral and personal freedom made him an anarchist of the right".[
He called members of the band ]Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evol ...
"wreckers of civilisation" in 1976 in a row over public funding of the arts. He also criticised Scottish performers Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United Sta ...
and Annie Lennox
Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart we ...
for taking part in the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
, describing them as "left-wing scum". Fairbairn was quoted: "These so-called stars like Annie Lennox and Jim Kerr are just out to line their own pockets.... and what Annie Lennox and Jim Kerr said at Wembley came out of no love for Nelson Mandela. It came from a desire to make money."
Fairbairn was a staunch supporter of Section 28
Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received ...
of the Local Government Act 1988, which prohibited local authorities from "promoting homosexuality". He described the gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
tenor Peter Pears as suffering from the "morbid squint" of homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
.
During parliamentary debates in 1994 regarding equalising the age of consent
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally clai ...
for heterosexual and homosexual acts, Fairbairn was called to order when he graphically described an act of anal sex between men, which he considered a "psycho-pathological perversion". He voted against equalising the age of consent in 1994 although earlier in his career had been a supporter of the Scottish Minorities Group, a Scottish gay rights organisation.
Final years
In 1983 he married Suzanne Mary Wheeler, known as Lady Sam Fairbairn.[
Fairbairn had stated that he would stand down at the 1997 general election, but he died before then from liver disease, caused by longstanding alcoholism, in Dunfermline on 19 February 1995, aged 61.][ In the subsequent by-election, his seat was won by ]Roseanna Cunningham
Roseanna Cunningham (born 27 July 1951) is a retired Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform from 2016 to 2021. She was previously Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work ...
of the Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
, with the Conservatives falling to third place.
Posthumous allegations of child abuse and sexual assaults
Though he was never charged with any offence, allegations of child molestation against Fairbairn emerged after his death. He was also posthumously accused of sexual assault against an adult female. It was also alleged that his name was included on a list of 'VIPs' who frequented a 'paedophile-friendly' guest house in London; however, these specific claims are widely regarded as a hoax.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbairn, Nicholas
1933 births
1995 deaths
20th-century Scottish lawyers
Alcohol-related deaths in Scotland
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh School of Law
Deaths from cirrhosis
Knights Bachelor
Members of the Faculty of Advocates
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh
Politicians awarded knighthoods
20th-century King's Counsel
Scottish autobiographers
Scottish Conservative Party MPs
Solicitors General for Scotland
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
British Eurosceptics