Ian C. H. Macdonald (born 1934) is a former

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 ...

activist. Macdonald studied at the Glasgow Academy and

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 , ...

before undertaking

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 l ...

''The Times House of Commons'' (1979), p.38 He 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), and began working on a farm in Killearn, in 1956 starting a branch of the SNP in nearby Balfron. The following year, he inherited the family farm in

Newmilns Newmilns is a village in the burgh of Newmilns and Greenholm, in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 3,057 people (2001 census) and lies on the A71, around seven miles east of Kilmarnock and twenty-five miles southwest of Glasgow. I ...

, and started the Irvine Valley branch of the party. He was elected to the SNP organisation committee, and in 1961 to its executive. The party also stood him as its candidate at the

1961 Glasgow Bridgeton by-election There was a by-election for the Glasgow Bridgeton constituency on Thursday 16 November 1961. The Labour Party candidate, James Bennett managed to retain the seat for his party, with a majority of 6,995 votes. The by-election was significant, ...

, its first by-election candidacy in nine years. Supported by

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

Alan Niven, Macdonald won 18.7% of the vote in a seat which the party had never previously contested. This result delighted Macdonald, who sold the farm to become the SNP's first full-time national organiser since the early 1950s. Macdonald proved a very effective organiser, travelling the nation to set up new branches. He married Karen, daughter of SNP activist Douglas Drysdale, although then struggled as Douglas interfered with his work. By the time Macdonald stood down, in 1968, the SNP had gone from having 140 branches to having 484, and official membership had risen to 120,000. He subsequently became a vice-president of the party, and remained on the party's national executive through the 1970s, during which time he ran a dry cleaning business. He also stood unsuccessfully for the SNP in several elections: Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

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 ...

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, when he took 39% of the vote, and Central Ayrshire 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 ...

. Macdonald also received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

in 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Ian 1934 births Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow People educated at the Glasgow Academy Scottish farmers Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates People from Newmilns