Alick Laidlaw Buchanan-Smith (8 April 1932 – 29 August 1991) was a Scottish

Conservative and Unionist The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

politician. The second son of

Alick Buchanan-Smith, Baron Balerno Brigadier Alick Drummond Buchanan-Smith, Baron Balerno, (9 October 1898 – 28 July 1984) was a British soldier and prominent geneticist. Life He was born in Glasgow, the son of Alice Lillian (née Buchanan), daughter of Sir George Buchanan, a ...

and Mary Kathleen Smith, he was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. ...

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

and

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 1 ...

. He was commissioned into the

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gord ...

and did his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

from 1951. He was unsuccessful parliamentary candidate for West Fife in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, and sat as member for

North Angus and Mearns Angus North and Mearns was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. It was unsucces ...

from

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 Patriarc ...

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 TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and for

Kincardine and Deeside Kincardine and Deeside was formerly (1975–96) a local government district in the Grampian Region of Scotland. In 1996 it was included in the Aberdeenshire unitary area. History This region is rich in prehistory with numerous megalithic site ...

from 1983 until his death. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1970 to 1974,

Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

from 1979 to 1983, and Minister of State for Energy from 1983 to 1987. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

in 1981. Following the Conservative's defeat in the February 1974 general election he became

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray. ...

under

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

. When

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 ...

succeeded Heath as Conservative leader ''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 ...

'' reported speculation that Buchanan-Smith was one of a group of "top Tories" who might refuse to serve under her. Ultimately he remained in post under Thatcher, but resigned in 1976, along with his junior shadow minister

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament fro ...

, when she changed the Conservative Party's policy to oppose

Scottish devolution Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers (excluding principally reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish ...

. Subsequently, he led the Conservative contribution to the Yes campaign in the

1979 Scottish devolution referendum A post-legislative referendum was held in Scotland in 1979 to decide whether there was a sufficient support for a Scottish Assembly proposed in the Scotland Act 1978 among the Scottish electorate. This was an act to create a devolved deliberati ...

. Although the Conservatives returned to power following the 1979 general election, Buchanan-Smith's successor as Shadow Scottish Secretary,

Teddy Taylor Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor (18 April 1937 – 20 September 2017) was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Southend Eas ...

, lost his

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

. As Taylor would not now be the new

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

, this led to speculation as to who would fill this post. Stuart Trotter writing in ''The Glasgow Herald'' correctly tipped George Younger, noting that while Buchanan-Smith had a similar level of experience, the fact that he had resigned over devolution and his contribution to the Yes campaign in the recent devolution referendum, made his appointment to the Scottish Office "unlikely". However he correctly predicted he might be offered a ministerial post in another department if Thatcher was aiming to unify the Conservative Party. In the 1989 Conservative leadership election he was reported to be one of 33 Conservative MPs to vote for Sir Anthony Meyer, the challenger to

. Already in poor health, he voted by

proxy Proxy may refer to: * Proxy or agent (law), a substitute authorized to act for another entity or a document which authorizes the agent so to act * Proxy (climate), a measured variable used to infer the value of a variable of interest in climate re ...

. He is buried under a very modest memorial in the north-east corner of

Currie Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

Cemetery, next to his parents and eldest brother, Rev George Adam Buchanan-Smith (1929-1983). The grave of Alick Buchanan-Smith, Currie Cemetery

References

* *''Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1987 and 1992 editions''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan-Smith, Alick 1932 births 1991 deaths Scottish Conservative Party MPs Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Glenalmond College Gordon Highlanders officers Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Younger sons of barons Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs People educated at Edinburgh Academy UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992