Douglas Crawford was a man for all seasons. His exceedingly high intelligence came into public light when, as Dux of Glasgow Academy, he won a scholarship to Cambridge. There he became an ardent anglophile, and this was illustrated in his maiden speech in the House of Commons. "On Scottish Independence, England will lose a surly lodger and acquire a sympathetic neighbour".

Douglas worked as economist for the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, and was responsible for the enormous increase in the circulation of the magazine "Scotland". It was a financial sacrifice to come to work for the SNP, but he passionately believed in Scotland’s need to be independent. Alone in the House of Commons, as MP for Hamilton, I had no researcher, no speechwriter and no PA. Douglas brought his skills to fulfil these functions.

He stood for Perth in October 1974 and won. I had a campaign technique of taking a piper onto street corners and then taking out my loudspeaker. Douglas improved on this and hired a pipe band!

When the 7 SNP MPs, elected in February 1974, became 11 in October, Douglas took over all aspects of the financial portfolio. Amendments were always lodged and earned Douglas the grudging respect of the Unionist parties.

In addition he established contacts with all sectors of industry and commerce, and set up meetings every day to carry our message across. All this he combined with his company Polycon which he had set up with his great friend John Donachy.

Douglas was also a fitness fanatic, climbing mountains and playing rugby, a game which he only gave up after a younger team player said "Don’t worry, sir, I’ll get the ball".

Many an afternoon Douglas would persuade colleagues to visit Cambridge, where we visited his old masters, and the odd pub serving just the true English beer.

Douglas was very proud of his clever children; Ruth who is now a successful advocate, and Ewan who works for John Swinney.

Despite a grave illness he continued to speak for the party and climbed Annapurna in the Himalayas with Sherpa Tensing.

The Party owes Douglas a huge debt for his practical contribution and for his dedicated passion. Douglas loved life and was ready to enjoy the company of all kinds of people. A good friend and a loyal patriot, we are all diminished by his loss.