View source for Margo MacDonald

{{Short description|Scottish politician (1943–2014)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = 
| name = Margo MacDonald
| honorific-suffix = 
| image = MargoMacDonaldMSP20111121.jpg
| imagesize = 220px
| caption = MacDonald in 2011
| office = [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]]<br />for [[Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothian]]<br />{{nobold|[[Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothians]] (1999–2011)}}<br />{{nobold|(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)}}
| term_start = 6 May 1999
| term_end = 4 April 2014
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| office1 = [[Scottish National Party#Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party|Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party]]
| leader1 = [[William Wolfe]]
| term_start1 = 1974
| term_end1 = 1979
| predecessor1 = [[Gordon Wilson (Scottish politician)|Gordon Wilson]]
| successor1 = [[Douglas Henderson (SNP politician)|Douglas Henderson]]
| office2 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Govan]]
| parliament2 = 
| majority2 =
| term_start2 = 8 November 1973
| term_end2 = 8 February 1974
| predecessor2 = [[John Rankin (British politician)|John Rankin]]
| successor2 = [[Harry Selby]]
| birthname = Margo Symington Aitken
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1943|4|19}}
| birth_place = [[Hamilton, South Lanarkshire|Hamilton]], [[Lanarkshire]], Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2014|4|4|1943|4|19}}
| death_place = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| party = [[Independent politician|Independent]] (2003–2014)<br />[[Scottish National Party]] (1973–2003)
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Peter MacDonald|1965|1980|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Jim Sillars]]|1981}}
}}
| children = 2 
| alma_mater = [[Dunfermline College of Physical Education]]
| occupation = [[Politician]], [[Teacher]], [[Television presenter|Broadcaster]]
}}

'''Margo Symington MacDonald''' (''née'' '''Aitken'''; 19 April 1943 – 4 April 2014) was a Scottish politician, teacher and broadcaster. She was the [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP) [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Govan]] from 1973 to 1974 and was [[Scottish National Party#Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party|Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party]] from 1974 to 1979. She later served as an SNP and then [[Independent (politician)|Independent]] [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]] (MSP) for [[Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothian]] from 1999 until her death.

==Background==
Margo Symington Aitken was born in [[Hamilton, South Lanarkshire]], and grew up in and around [[East Kilbride]], one of three siblings.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10744561/Margo-MacDonald-obituary.html Obituary for Margo MacDonald], telegraph.co.uk; accessed 5 April 2014.</ref>

Her mother, Jean, was a nurse, and her father, Robert,<ref name="heraldobit">{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/obituaries/margo-macdonald.23883336|title=Obituary: Margo MacDonald |first=David |last=Torrance |work= Herald (Glasgow) |date=5 April 2014|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref> was described as a "very cruel" man from whom her mother separated when Margo was 12 years old.<ref name="scotsman">{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/interview-why-margo-macdonald-is-determined-to-have-the-right-to-choose-when-she-dies-1-2564964|title=Interview: Why Margo MacDonald is determined to have the right to choose when she dies |first=Peter |last=Ross |work=The Scotsman |date=7 October 2012|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref> She was educated at [[Hamilton Academy]], and trained as a teacher of [[physical education]] at [[Dunfermline College of Physical Education]] immediately after leaving school.<ref name="heraldint">{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/archive-interview-margo-macdonalds-crusade-to-die-with-dignity.1396623665|title=Archive interview: Margo MacDonald's crusade to die with dignity |first=Vicky |last=Allan |work=Herald (Glasgow) |date=4 April 2014|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref>

==Family==
She married her first husband, Peter MacDonald, in 1965, and they ran a [[Blantyre, South Lanarkshire|Blantyre]] pub, the Barnhill Tavern (known locally as The Hoolet's Nest), together. The MacDonalds had two daughters, Petra and Zoe, before the marriage ended in divorce.<ref name="scotsman"/>

Her second marriage was to politician and columnist [[Jim Sillars]], whom she married in 1981.<ref name="heraldobit" /> Sillars went on to win the [[1988 Glasgow Govan by-election]] for the SNP. Petra MacDonald married  Craig Reid of [[the Proclaimers]]; the Reids have four children.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/life-and-times-margo-macdonald-in-words-and-pictures.1396619994|title=Life and Times: Margo MacDonald in words and pictures |work=Herald (Glasgow) |date=4 April 2014|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref>

==Parliamentary career==
A committed and vocal supporter of [[Scottish independence]], MacDonald entered parliamentary politics by winning the [[1973 Glasgow Govan by-election]] as an SNP candidate at 30 years old. There were "scenes of near-hysteria by supporters" as she was declared the winner in what had, until then, been a [[Scottish Labour Party|Labour]] stronghold. Her election, during the last months of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Heath ministry|Heath government]], "overturned the theory that the SNP can thrive only [...] when a Labour Government is in office".<ref>{{cite news|title=SNP shock for Labour in Govan|date=9 November 1973|newspaper=The Glasgow Herald}}</ref>

She has alleged that her election to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] was followed by [[KGB]] and [[CIA]] agents taking her for lunch while [[undercover operation|posing]] as journalists,<ref name="scotsman" /> and believed the SNP was infiltrated during the 1970s by MI5 agents worried booming [[North Sea oil]] revenues could lead to independence.<ref name="mi5">{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/mi5-spies-told-stay-out-of-referendum.21143916|title=MI5 spies told: stay out of referendum |work=Herald (Glasgow) |date=9 June 2013|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref>

She failed to retain her seat in the following general election of [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974]], but became Deputy Leader of the SNP that year. At a December 1974 National Council meeting, MacDonald criticised the SNP for failing to win seats from Labour in industrial Scotland and urged the party to move to the left to compete.<ref name="heraldobit"/> She had already been selected as the SNP candidate in [[Hamilton (UK Parliament constituency)|Hamilton]] when the death of the MP led to the [[1978 Hamilton by-election]], which she lost.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogrGQBPPcRI  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/ogrGQBPPcRI| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=report on Hamilton 1978 by election |publisher=Thames TV |date=1 June 1978 |access-date=23 March 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> At the 1979 general election she was an unsuccessful candidate in [[Glasgow Shettleston (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Shettleston]].

A staunch left-winger, she was one of three prominent spokespersons for the socialist [[79 Group]], which ultimately resulted in her failure to be re-elected as Deputy Leader at the party's 1979 conference.<ref name="heraldobit"/> In 1982, Margo resigned from the SNP in protest of the 79 Group's proscription. She began to establish herself as a forceful and respected presenter of various radio and television programmes,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26854930|title=Margo MacDonald: The life and times of a political 'blonde bombshell'| work=BBC News |date=4 April 2014|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> including the short-lived ''Colour Supplement'' for [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] in the mid-1980s. She contributed {{Clarify|date=April 2014}} regularly to Scottish newspapers including the ''[[Edinburgh Evening News]]'' near the end of her life.

By the mid-1990s, she had returned to the SNP and in [[1999 Scottish Parliament election|1999]] she was elected to the [[Scottish Parliament]], representing the Lothians. She earned a high media profile by her outspoken views on a number of issues, including [[sex workers' rights]] and [[MSPs' salaries, expenses and allowances|MSPs' salaries]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2280235.stm|title=What future for rebel Margo? |work=BBC News|date=25 September 2002|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> She quickly established herself as a rebel within the party, and was disciplined in 2000 for missing a parliamentary vote without permission and briefing a Sunday newspaper against party policy.<ref>{{cite news|website=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/792584.stm|title=Warning for MSP Margo|date=15 June 2000|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> Meanwhile, she lost influence with the party leadership, firstly under [[Alex Salmond]] and then [[John Swinney]], for being in the [[SNP Fundamentalist]] mould<ref>{{cite news|website=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/454758.stm|title=Maverick Margo pulls no punches|date=22 September 1999|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> and having supported [[Alex Neil (politician)|Alex Neil]] in the party leadership election in [[2000 Scottish National Party leadership election|2000]].<ref name="heraldobit"/>

In 2002, MacDonald was ranked fifth on the SNP list for Lothians for the [[2003 Scottish Parliament election|2003 Parliament election]], effectively ending her chances of being re-elected as an SNP MSP.<ref>{{cite news|website=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2050537.stm|title=SNP row over election plans|date=18 June 2002|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> In response, there were a spate of resignations from the party,<ref>{{cite news|website=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2134279.stm|title=Nationalists quit in Margo protest|date=17 July 2002|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> and MacDonald decided to instead stand as an independent. For this, she was officially expelled from the SNP on 28 January 2003.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2701077.stm |title=Margo expelled from SNP|work=BBC News|date=28 January 2003|access-date=6 May 2011}}</ref> Her diagnosis with [[Parkinson's disease]] became public knowledge at this time, ostensibly in an effort to diminish her electoral prospects.<ref name="heraldobit" /> MacDonald, who had known about the diagnosis for six years,<ref>{{cite news |title=Margo has Parkinson's |newspaper=The Scotsman|date=11 July 2002|url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=296&id=748782002|access-date=23 October 2011}}</ref> said it had been leaked to the press by "forces of darkness" in the SNP, but a spokesperson insisted that the leak did not come from within the party.<ref>{{cite news|website=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2121813.stm|title=Margo attacks 'forces of darkness'|date=11 July 2002|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref>

She was re-elected as an independent MSP at the [[2003 Scottish Parliament election]], and again in [[2007 Scottish Parliament election|2007]] and [[2011 Scottish Parliament election|2011]]. After her 2007 re-election MacDonald stood to become [[Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament|Presiding Officer]], but lost the ballot to [[Alex Fergusson (Scottish politician)|Alex Fergusson]]. During her time in parliament as an independent politician, she championed controversial causes, including the legalisation of [[euthanasia|assisted suicide]].<ref>{{cite news|website=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8471553.stm|title=Assisted suicide bill published by MSP Margo MacDonald|date=21 January 2010|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref>

In the run-up to the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]], MacDonald asked [[MI5|the UK's Security Service]] for assurances they would not interfere in the referendum process, suggesting that the security services "have people in the SNP".<ref name="mi5"/>

==Death==
Margo died at her home in [[Edinburgh]] on 4 April 2014, aged 70.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/margo-macdonald-dies-tributes-pour-in-for-veteran-scottish-politician-9239694.html|title=Margo MacDonald dies: Tributes pour in for 'brightest light' veteran Scottish politician|last=Gander|first=Kashmira|work=The Independent|date=5 April 2014}}</ref> As she was elected as an independent regional MSP, according to the provisions of the [[Scotland Act 1998]], her seat was left vacant until the [[2016 Scottish Parliament election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26883278|title=Independent MSP Margo MacDonald dies|work=bbc.co.uk|date=4 April 2014|access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> Shortly after her death, it was confirmed that political leaders would pay tribute to her at a special session of the parliament.<ref>{{cite news|last=MacNab |first=Scott |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/special-holyrood-session-to-pay-tribute-to-margo-1-3366505 |title=Special Holyrood session to pay tribute to Margo |publisher=Johnston Press |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=5 April 2014 |access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref>

==''My Right to Die''==
In July 2008, MacDonald co-operated with [[BBC Scotland]] in the making of a documentary about [[Euthanasia|assisted dying]]. As someone with Parkinson's, MacDonald had long been a campaigner for assisted dying, saying that {{blockquote|"As someone with a degenerative condition – Parkinson's – this debate is not a theory with me. The possibility of having the worst form of the disease at the end of life has made me think about unpleasant things. I feel strongly that, in the event of losing my dignity or being faced with the prospect of a painful or protracted death, I should have the right to choose to curtail my own, and my family's, suffering."<ref name="BBCScotland">{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7507486.stm|title=BBC Scotland, 15 July 2008|work=BBC News|date=15 July 2008|access-date=6 May 2011}}</ref>}}

In the programme, MacDonald travelled around Scotland and met fellow "sufferers" and investigated the pros and cons of assisted dying, later stating that {{blockquote|"Online, euthanasia campaigners show viewers how to make an 'exit hood' to end your life, and I know people with terminal illnesses now make the awful trip to Mexico to buy lethal doses of drugs to take their own lives, all because of our current laws. I am in no doubt that our legal system must change."<ref name="BBCScotland"/>}}

==See also==
*[[List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{SP-MSP}}
* {{Hansard-contribs|mrs-margo-macdonald|Margo MacDonald}}

===Obituaries===
* [https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/04/scottish-politician-margo-maconald-dies-70-parkinsons Scottish politician Margo MacDonald dies of Parkinson's]; The Guardian
* [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/live-reaction-death-margo-macdonald-3375224 Reaction to the death of Margo MacDonald]; The Daily Record

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{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Govan]]
  | years  = [[1973 Glasgow Govan by-election|1973]]–[[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|Feb 1974]]
  | before = [[John Rankin (British politician)|John Rankin]]
  | after  = [[Harry Selby]]
}}
{{s-par|sct}}
{{s-new | constituency }} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of the Scottish Parliament]] for [[Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothian]]<br />{{small|[[Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothians]] (1999–2011)}}|years=[[1999 Scottish Parliament election|1999]]–2014}}
{{s-vac}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box|title=[[Scottish National Party]] Vice Chairman (Policy)|years=1972–1974|before=[[Gordon Murray (politician)|Gordon Murray]]|after=[[Arthur Donaldson]]}}
{{succession box|title=[[Scottish National Party|Senior Vice-Chairman (Depute Leader) of the Scottish National Party]]|years=1974–79|before=[[Gordon Wilson (Scottish politician)|Gordon Wilson]]|after=[[Douglas Henderson (SNP politician)|Douglas Henderson]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Former SNP MSPs|state=collapsed}}
{{SNP}}
{{Former independent MSPs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Margo}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Neurological disease deaths in Scotland]]
[[Category:Euthanasia activists]]
[[Category:Euthanasia in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Independent MSPs]]
[[Category:Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003]]
[[Category:Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007]]
[[Category:Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011]]
[[Category:Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies]]
[[Category:People educated at Hamilton Academy]]
[[Category:Politicians from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire]]
[[Category:British politicians with disabilities]]
[[Category:Scottish columnists]]
[[Category:Scottish journalists]]
[[Category:Scottish National Party MPs]]
[[Category:Scottish National Party MSPs]]
[[Category:Scottish republicans]]
[[Category:Scottish schoolteachers]]
[[Category:Scottish television presenters]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1970–1974]]
[[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:Female members of the Scottish Parliament]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish women politicians]]
[[Category:Scottish women columnists]]
[[Category:Spouses of British politicians]]