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Features - John Swinney - A Tribute to Margaret Ewing

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A TRIBUTE TO MARGARET EWING MSP

Speaking to the SNP Spring Conference in Dundee in a tribute to Margaret Ewing MSP, SNP North Tayside MSP John Swinney said:

"The day after the 1992 General Election, as I came to terms with being second rather than first in North Tayside, and worse still tried to come to terms with the fact that I had been defeated by none other than Bill Walker, Margaret telephoned me.  She was sympathetic.  She herself had experienced election defeat in the past.  She was funny.  She said she had been beaten by some pretty eccentric opponents, but she did concede that Bill Walker was in a league of his own.

But although she was sympathetic and she was funny she had a serious message in the call.  Pick yourself up, give it more than you ever thought you could, and win the next time.  Over the next five long, hard years of campaigning that call never left me.  And in the early hours of the morning after the 1997 General Election, when I won the seat, one of the first calls I received was from Margaret.

That story tells us all we need to know about Margaret Ewing.  Although she led a frantic and busy life she never forgot those small, generous touches in life.  She always was able to think of others before herself.  She demonstrated real leadership in the way she motivated people with the warm and kind gestures that were such a hallmark of her contribution to politics.

Margaret's political life spanned forty years of constant, unswerving support for the Scottish National Party and our goal of Scottish Independence.  Her contribution stretched from fly-posting in the 1960s to nearly a quarter of a century of effective and dignified parliamentary representation.

Margaret was a bright star that landed on Westminster in 1974 as MP for East Dunbartonshire.  Stuffy old Westminster had no idea what had hit it when a bright, glamorous and charismatic young woman arrived to upset the apple cart.  Despite having a majority of only 22 votes she made Westminster sit up and take notice of Scotland and the call for Independence

She came to terms with defeat in 1979, did as she told me to do – dusted herself down - and returned to the Commons in 1987 and embarked on 19 years of uninterrupted devotion to representing the communities of Moray.

In 1999 Margaret took her well deserved place in the Scottish Parliament and in her first speech she said -

I came here to work for Scotland and to take Scotland forward to full independence and the rights she deserves in the international community.

Margaret's vision for Scotland was encapsulated in those fine words.  She believed that Scotland would be the best our country could be if we had self-government, able to take responsibility for our own decisions, able to make a positive contribution to the international community.

Her most recent and much respected work in Malawi is testament to living her political vision.

In the sound-bite world that is our modern politics, I think it is all too rare that the contributions individuals make to politics are properly and dispassionately assessed. Margaret was one of the most significant figures in what we know to be modern nationalism in Scotland.  She had an ability to relate Independence to the lives of our people.  She had a clear-sighted view that every action we took had to relate to winning the arguments for Independence.  She had the ability to recognise that tactical advantage one day might be a strategic disaster the next.

Margaret brought all of this to her campaign for the leadership of the Scottish National Party in 1990 and, when she did not win, she made it clear to all around her this was the time to support the new leader of the Party.

As a campaigner, she pioneered the idea of a Winter Fuel Allowance at much the same time as Gordon Brown was saying a winter heating payment was a selfish Nationalist initiative.  Margaret led and won this debate on social justice long before the Iron Chancellor stumbled across the concept.

As a constituency servant she was without equal.  Last week I spent three days campaigning in Moray.  As I called at door after door I was told by constituent after constituent how wonderful a parliamentary representative Margaret had been.

I often told her she should write a manual about how to serve a constituency.  She might not have written it but she certainly held informal tutorials about it.  They were subtle but you were in no doubt that you were being taught a gentle lesson in the process. Over the years, some in our Party sneered at people who were respected parliamentarians.  The only view for which Margaret held greater contempt was for those who supported the Union.  Margaret believed that to win support we had to win respect.  Not respect in some sloppy and lazy establishment fashion but respect by being effective advocates for the people.  Respect for the strength and power of our cause.  Respect for the quality of our case and our arguments.  Margaret earned that respect in the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament.

Everyone knew she was a Scottish Nationalist but she was respected across the board as a fine parliamentarian who set a standard in parliamentary work as exacting as her standard in constituency service.

Margaret had a wicked sense of humour that she deployed to powerful effect.  Much has been said about the moment of greatest humour in the short history of the Scottish Parliament for which Margaret was entirely responsible.

Bruce Crawford had almost burst a blood vessel attacking the Government and First Minister, Henry McLeish.  Henry got up and launched a fierce counter-attack reaching a powerful crescendo saying Bruce's conduct was so disgraceful it deserved a word that was a completely unparliamentary term.  A word that began with H and ended with Y.  Satisfied, Henry took a breath, gave a smile and savoured his finest moment just as Margaret shouted out HENRY.  That was the only thing we remember about that McLeish performance.

If I had to sum up Margaret's political contribution in one sentence what would it be?  I would say she was a charming, vivacious, principled Nationalist who had the very rare ability to speak from the head and the heart at the same time.

Fergus cannot be with us today but he has asked me to thank many people within the Party, throughout Scotland and further afield who have overwhelmed him with their messages of appreciation of Margaret's life.

Fergus is taking some time off but wants everyone to know he will be back in action soon to continue the work he and Margaret undertook together for Scottish Independence.

Finally Conference, at various stages in my campaign to win the North Tayside constituency, Margaret was a regular visitor to support me in my efforts.  She came to my constituency and she came to yours.  And now it is our duty to go to hers - to her beloved Moray - and to work to retain a constituency she served with devotion, with energy and with inspired leadership.

Thank you Maggie for all you have done for each one of us, for all you have done for our Party, and thank you for all you have done for the country that you loved."