Thomas McAlpine (23 September 1929 – 21 February 2006) was a
Scottish nationalist
Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity.
Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into t ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
.
Born in
Wishaw
Wishaw ( sco, Wishae or Wisha ; gd, Camas Neachdain) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it formed ...
, McAlpine studied at
Dalziel High School, then graduated in engineering from the
Royal College of Science and Technology
The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964, and is the predecessor institution of the University of Strathclyde. Its main building on George Street now serve ...
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 ...
.
[Tom McAlpine - an appreciation]
, ''The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'', 28 February 2006[Shock at death of Biggar Councillor Tom McAlpine]
, ''Carluke Gazette
Carluke (; gd, Cathair MoLuaig) is a town that lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, northwest of Lanark and southeast of Wishaw.
Carluke is largely a commuting town, with a variety of small stores ...
'', 1 March 2006 He became involved with the
Iona Community
The Iona Community, founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, is an ecumenical Christian community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions within Christianity.
It and its publishing house, Wild Goose Publications, are hea ...
, becoming first its youth leader, then one of its first three lay members. He was a founder member of the Scottish
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...
, and was prominent in the
Committee of 100. Through this, he met and married his third wife,
Isobel Lindsay
Isobel Lindsay (born 1943) is a former sociology lecturer, known as a Scottish nationalist and peace activist.
Born in Hamilton, Lindsay studied at Hamilton Academy and at the University of Glasgow, then was based at Strathclyde University, init ...
, a lecturer at the
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
. He joined the
Labour Party and was elected as a councillor in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
in 1960, but later left in protest at its support for
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s and in 1967 instead joined 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 ...
(SNP).
In 1963, McAlpine established the Rowen Engineering Company, a
workers' co-operative
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which management is elected by ...
. Later, in 1970, he set up Chieftain Industries with
William Wolfe
William Cuthbertson Wolfe (22 February 1924 – 18 March 2010) was a Scottish accountant, manufacturer and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was the National Convenor (leader) of the SNP from 1969 to 1979, playing a central role in ...
to make domestic heaters and later
heat pump
A heat pump is a device that can heat a building (or part of a building) by transferring thermal energy from the outside using a refrigeration cycle. Many heat pumps can also operate in the opposite direction, cooling the building by removing h ...
s.
McAlpine soon became prominent in the SNP. He stood in
Bothwell
Bothwell is a conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, east-south-east of Glasgow city centre.
Description and history
An ancie ...
at the
1970 general election, taking 12.8% of the vote, then in
Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
in
February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...
and
October 1974, narrowly missing election, with 35.8% of the votes cast. He stood again in Lanark in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
,
Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to:
Sports
* Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow
* Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club
* Clydesdale RFC, South ...
in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
and finally
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county.
I ...
in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
, but never came close to winning a seat again.
McAlpine also served as a Vice Chairman of the SNP, with responsibility for Administration, in the 1970s, and again in the early 1980s. In 1988, he was elected as a councillor in
Biggar on
Clydesdale District Council. He remained an SNP representative even though his wife left the party and later joined Labour, although he did not always take the party line. He opposed the restructuring of local government in Scotland in the mid-1990s, but won his seat on the new
South Lanarkshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council ( gd, Comhairle Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is the unitary authority serving the South Lanarkshire council area in Scotland. The council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1b ...
until he died unexpectedly in 2006.
[Labour wife's SNP dilemma Divided we stand, united we vote]
, '' The Herald'', 7 April 1995
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlpine, Tom
1929 births
2006 deaths
Alumni of the University of Strathclyde
Labour Party (UK) councillors
People educated at Dalziel High School
People from Wishaw
Scottish National Party councillors
Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates
Councillors in South Lanarkshire
Politicians from North Lanarkshire