Calum MacDonald (politician): Difference between revisions

|term_start term_end = 1129 JuneJuly 19871999

|birth_place = [[Stornoway]], Scotland

|birthname = Calum Alistair MacDonald

'''Calum Alistair MacDonald''' or '''({{lang-gd|Calum Alasdair Domhnallach'''Dòmhnallach}};<ref>{{cite news |title=Naidheachdan 11:00m |url=https://www.bbc.com/naidheachdan/32652192 |accessdate=7 July 2019 |work=[[BBC Naidheachdan]] |date=8 May 2015}}</ref> (born 7 May 1956, Stornoway) wasis a Scottish former politician who served as [[LabourMember Partyof Parliament (UKUnited Kingdom)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Western Isles (UK Parliament constituency)|Western Isles]] from 1987 untilto he2005. wasA defeatedmember byof the [[ScottishLabour NationalParty (UK)|Labour Party]], inhe thewas a [[UnitedParliamentary KingdomUnder-Secretary generalof election,State 2005|Britishfor GeneralScotland]] Electionfrom of1997 2005]]to 1999.

HeMacDonald was born on 7 May 1956 and broughtgrew up on the [[Isle of Lewis|Isle of Lewis, Scotland]]. Educated at the [http://www.cne-siar.gov.uk/school/bayble/index.htm Bayble School] in [[Point, Outer Hebrides]] and [[Nicolson Institute]], [[Stornoway, Outer Hebrides|Stornoway]], he went on to graduate from the [[University of Edinburgh]] with [[Master of Arts (Scotland)|MA]] Honours in History and Politics.

During the 1980s, heMacDonald was a Teaching Fellow at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA) for three years where he also gained his [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in Political Philosophy. He returned to Britainthe UK to help out with the family [[kitchen]] and [[Piping and plumbing fittings|bathroom fittings]] business.

His political interests are wide-ranging. MacDonald’sMacDonald's published journalism (''[[The Independent]]'', ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', the ''[[Glasgow Herald]]'' and the ''[[New Statesman]]'') include articles on: [[Northern Ireland]]; the [[Balkans]]; [[Russia]]; links between Labour and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]; Voting Reform; the Debate on Clause 4IV, etc. He was an early advocate of European defence co-operation, in “A"A New Model Army”Army" ([[Fabian Society|Fabian]] Discussion Paper, 1991) and “European"European Security at the Crossroads”Crossroads" (in B Crawford and P Schulze, Ed, European Dilemmas after [[Maastricht Treaty|Maastricht]], Centre for German and European Studies UC Berkeley, 1993).

In 1990, he co-founded the Future of Europe Trust, which acted as a forum for young politicians across EastEastern and WestWestern Europe to progress their views on Europe. Between 1988 and 1992 he served on the Commons Select Committee on Agriculture. In 1991, he piloted his own Private Members Bill through the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], the Crofter Forestry Act, which has since led to the planting of mixed woodland by crofter communities in the Highlands and Islands.

Between 1991 and 1995, he was a leading campaigner for Western military intervention in the former [[Yugoslavia]] and a persistent critic of the -then Government’sGovernment's policy.

Between 1992 and 1997,{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}} he was Chair of Labour Initiative on Co-operation (LINC), a Labour Party pressure group promoting co-operation with the Liberal Democrats.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/better-a-dalliance-than-an-all-out-alliance-1618780.html|title=Better a dalliance than an all-out alliance|last=Marr|first=Andrew|date=9 May 1995|accessdate=27 May 2019|newspaper=The Independent}}</ref>

Between December 1997 and July 1999, he was Minister for Housing, Planning and European Affairs at the [[Scottish Office]]. Between July 1998 and July 1999, he had additional responsibilities for Transport, Highlands and Islands and [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]]. In his capacity as [[Minister for Gaelic]], he gave the 1998 [[Sabhal Mòr Lectures|Sabhal Mòr Lecture]].

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040728122949/http://www.calummacdonald.labour.co.uk/ His former website]

* [httphttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/calum_macdonald/na_h-eileanan_an_iar They Work For You]

| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Western Isles (UK Parliament constituency)|Western Isles]]

| years = [[1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987|1987]]&ndash;–[[2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005]]

{{succession box|title=Chair of the [[Fabian Society]]|years=1999 &ndash;– 2000|before=[[Tony Wright (Cannock Chase MP)|Tony Wright]]|after=[[Gordon Marsden]]}}

[[Category:Scottish Labour Party MPs]]

[[Category:UK MPs 1987–921992–1997]]

[[Category:UK MPs 2001–052001–2005]]