Winnie Ewing
Encyclopedia
Winifred Margaret 'Winnie' Ewing (born 10 July 1929) is a Scottish nationalist, lawyer and prominent SNP
politician who was formerly a Member of Parliament
(Hamilton
1967-70; Moray and Nairn
74-79), Member of the European Parliament
(Highlands and Islands 1975-1999) and Member of the Scottish Parliament
(Highlands and Islands 1999-2003). She is one of the most influential Scotswomen of her generation who made an impact on Scottish, British and European politics. Her sensational election victory in 1967
is widely regarded as the most important by-election
in Scottish political history and helped inspire the surge of support for the SNP. She was elected SNP Party President in 1987 (to 2005).
, she was educated at Battlefield School and Queen's Park Senior Secondary School. In 1946 she matriculated at Glasgow University where she earned an MA and went on to study for an LLB. Though not very active in politics at that time, she joined the Student Nationalists. After graduation she qualified and practiced as a solicitor and notary public
. She was Secretary of the Glasgow Bar Association from 1962-67. The University of Glasgow honoured Ewing with an LLD
in 1995.
through her membership of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association
, and came to prominence in 1967 when she won the watershed Hamilton by-election
as the Scottish National Party
(SNP) candidate. A practising solicitor at the time of her election, she proved to be a sound choice as her eloquence and ability bolstered a hard-fought SNP campaign and saw her through to victory. She was also helped on to victory by a team of enthusiastic helpers, none more so than her hardworking election agent, John McAteer. She famously said at the time of her election, 'stop the world, Scotland wants to get on', and her presence at Westminster
proved to be a real focus for the SNP with a significant rise in membership being the result. Furthermore, many political commentators speculate that it was as a result of her victory that the then Labour Government established the Kilbrandon Commission
to look into the establishment of a devolved Scottish Assembly
.
Despite her high profile she was unsuccessful in retaining the Hamilton seat at the 1970 General Election
, but she managed to be re-elected to Westminster at the February 1974 Election
for Moray and Nairn
, and held her seat in the repeat election in October of the same year. She first became an MEP in 1975, at a time when the European Parliament was still composed of representative delegations from national parliaments. She ceased to be a Westminster MP after the May 1979 election
, but within weeks had reclaimed her seat at the European Parliament in the first direct elections to the Parliament.
It was during her time as an MEP that she acquired the nickname Madame Ecosse (French for Mrs Scotland) because of her strong advocacy of Scottish interests in Strasbourg and Brussels.. The term was meant to be given in jest and used in a disparaging way by her opponents, but Ewing used the term as a badge of pride and it stuck. She had been a former Vice President of the European Radical Alliance
which included French, Guyanan, Flemish, Luxembourg, Italian, Corsican and Spanish (Canary Islands) MEPs.
In 1999 she gave up being an MEP and became an MSP in the first session of the Scottish Parliament, representing the Highlands and Islands. As the oldest member it was her duty to preside over the opening of the Scottish Parliament, a session she opened with the famous words, 'The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25th day of March in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened'.
During the controversy that arose in the early years of the Scottish Parliament
surrounding proposals to repeal Clause 28
(a law banning the active promotion of homosexuality in schools) she joined her son Fergus Ewing
in abstaining, although her daughter in law Margaret Ewing
supported repeal as did the majority of her party's MSPs.
In 2003 she lost her husband, Stewart Ewing, in a fire accident. He had been active with her in politics for many years, and had himself served as an SNP councillor for the Summerston
area in Glasgow
. The same year she lost her husband she stood down from being an MSP, although she continued to serve as the SNP's President, a position she held for many years.
On 15 July 2005 she announced she would be stepping down as President of the Scottish National Party
at its September Conference, bringing to an end her 38 year career in representative politics.
Her son Fergus Ewing
serves as SNP MSP, as did his late wife Margaret Ewing
, and her daughter Annabelle Ewing
, who was also an MP between 2001-2005.
.
On April 2009, BBC Alba
broadcast a biographical documentary Madame Ecosse, produced by Madmac Productions. It was rebroadcast on BBC Scotland
in July to mark her 80th birthday.
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
politician who was formerly a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(Hamilton
Hamilton (UK Parliament constituency)
Hamilton was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.- History :...
1967-70; Moray and Nairn
Moray and Nairn (UK Parliament constituency)
Moray and Nairn was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1983.It was formed by the amalgamation of the county constituency Elginshire and Nairnshire with the parliamentary burghs of Elgin, previously part of Elgin Burghs, and Nairn and...
74-79), Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(Highlands and Islands 1975-1999) and Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
(Highlands and Islands 1999-2003). She is one of the most influential Scotswomen of her generation who made an impact on Scottish, British and European politics. Her sensational election victory in 1967
Hamilton by-election, 1967
The Hamilton by-election, in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which took place on the 2nd of November 1967, was a milestone in the politics of Scotland...
is widely regarded as the most important by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in Scottish political history and helped inspire the surge of support for the SNP. She was elected SNP Party President in 1987 (to 2005).
Background
Born Winifred Margaret Woodburn in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, she was educated at Battlefield School and Queen's Park Senior Secondary School. In 1946 she matriculated at Glasgow University where she earned an MA and went on to study for an LLB. Though not very active in politics at that time, she joined the Student Nationalists. After graduation she qualified and practiced as a solicitor and notary public
Notary public
A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...
. She was Secretary of the Glasgow Bar Association from 1962-67. The University of Glasgow honoured Ewing with an LLD
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
in 1995.
Political biography
She became active in campaigning for Scottish independenceScottish independence
Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, advocacy groups and individuals for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state, separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
through her membership of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association
Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association
The Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association is a student organisation formed in 1927 at the University of Glasgow which supports Scottish independence....
, and came to prominence in 1967 when she won the watershed Hamilton by-election
Hamilton by-election, 1967
The Hamilton by-election, in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which took place on the 2nd of November 1967, was a milestone in the politics of Scotland...
as the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) candidate. A practising solicitor at the time of her election, she proved to be a sound choice as her eloquence and ability bolstered a hard-fought SNP campaign and saw her through to victory. She was also helped on to victory by a team of enthusiastic helpers, none more so than her hardworking election agent, John McAteer. She famously said at the time of her election, 'stop the world, Scotland wants to get on', and her presence at Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
proved to be a real focus for the SNP with a significant rise in membership being the result. Furthermore, many political commentators speculate that it was as a result of her victory that the then Labour Government established the Kilbrandon Commission
Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)
The Royal Commission on the Constitution, also referred to as the Kilbrandon Commission or Kilbrandon Report, was a long-running royal commission set up by Harold Wilson's Labour government to examine the structures of the constitution of the United Kingdom and the British Islands and the...
to look into the establishment of a devolved Scottish Assembly
Scottish Assembly
The Scottish Assembly was a proposed legislature for Scotland that would have devolved a set list of powers from the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
.
Despite her high profile she was unsuccessful in retaining the Hamilton seat at the 1970 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
, but she managed to be re-elected to Westminster at the February 1974 Election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
for Moray and Nairn
Moray and Nairn (UK Parliament constituency)
Moray and Nairn was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1983.It was formed by the amalgamation of the county constituency Elginshire and Nairnshire with the parliamentary burghs of Elgin, previously part of Elgin Burghs, and Nairn and...
, and held her seat in the repeat election in October of the same year. She first became an MEP in 1975, at a time when the European Parliament was still composed of representative delegations from national parliaments. She ceased to be a Westminster MP after the May 1979 election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, but within weeks had reclaimed her seat at the European Parliament in the first direct elections to the Parliament.
It was during her time as an MEP that she acquired the nickname Madame Ecosse (French for Mrs Scotland) because of her strong advocacy of Scottish interests in Strasbourg and Brussels.. The term was meant to be given in jest and used in a disparaging way by her opponents, but Ewing used the term as a badge of pride and it stuck. She had been a former Vice President of the European Radical Alliance
European Radical Alliance
The Group of the European Radical Alliance was a heterogeneous political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999.-History:...
which included French, Guyanan, Flemish, Luxembourg, Italian, Corsican and Spanish (Canary Islands) MEPs.
In 1999 she gave up being an MEP and became an MSP in the first session of the Scottish Parliament, representing the Highlands and Islands. As the oldest member it was her duty to preside over the opening of the Scottish Parliament, a session she opened with the famous words, 'The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25th day of March in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened'.
During the controversy that arose in the early years of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
surrounding proposals to repeal Clause 28
Section 28
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...
(a law banning the active promotion of homosexuality in schools) she joined her son Fergus Ewing
Fergus Ewing
Fergus Ewing is the Scottish Government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Inverness and Nairn.- Background :...
in abstaining, although her daughter in law Margaret Ewing
Margaret Ewing
Margaret Anne Ewing was a Scottish National Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament...
supported repeal as did the majority of her party's MSPs.
In 2003 she lost her husband, Stewart Ewing, in a fire accident. He had been active with her in politics for many years, and had himself served as an SNP councillor for the Summerston
Summerston
Summerston is a residential area of Glasgow, Scotland. There is a riding school used by Strathclyde Police Mounted Branch. John Paul Academy, one of Glasgow's 11 Roman Catholic secondary schools is in Summerston. 4th Glasgow Beaver Colony and Cub Scout Pack are based in Summerston in Caldercuilt...
area in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. The same year she lost her husband she stood down from being an MSP, although she continued to serve as the SNP's President, a position she held for many years.
On 15 July 2005 she announced she would be stepping down as President of the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
at its September Conference, bringing to an end her 38 year career in representative politics.
Her son Fergus Ewing
Fergus Ewing
Fergus Ewing is the Scottish Government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Inverness and Nairn.- Background :...
serves as SNP MSP, as did his late wife Margaret Ewing
Margaret Ewing
Margaret Anne Ewing was a Scottish National Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament...
, and her daughter Annabelle Ewing
Annabelle Ewing
Annabelle Janet Ewing is a Scottish politician, lawyer and currently a SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife...
, who was also an MP between 2001-2005.
Outside parliament
Ewing is a vice president of equal rights charity ParityParity (charity)
Parity is a United Kingdom-based equal rights organisation, campaigning to promote and protect the equality of men and women under the law. Its main focus has been in the area of state pensions and associated benefits, and most of its notable successes have occurred in this field...
.
On April 2009, BBC Alba
BBC Alba
BBC Gàidhlig is the department of BBC Scotland that produces Scottish Gaelic language programming. This includes TV programmes for BBC Alba and BBC Two Scotland, the BBC Radio nan Gàidheal radio station and the BBC Alba website.-Television:...
broadcast a biographical documentary Madame Ecosse, produced by Madmac Productions. It was rebroadcast on BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
in July to mark her 80th birthday.
Further reading
- Stop the World: The Autobiography of Winnie Ewing. Birlinn LimitedBirlinn LimitedBirlinn Limited is an independent publishing house based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Established in 1992 by Managing Director Hugh Andrew, Birlinn Limited is composed of a number of imprints, including, among others:...
(2004), Winnie Ewing and Michael Russell (editor)
External links
- SNP Marks 40th Anniversary of Hamilton Success
- Mother Scotland (22 February 2007 ) The Scotsman
- Ross Lydall: 1967 and all that: is history about to repeat itself? (15 April 2009) The Scotsman
- Portrait of Winnie Ewing, by Norman Edgar, at the Scottish National Portrait GalleryScottish National Portrait GalleryThe Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery on Queen Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. It holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. In addition it also holds the Scottish National Photography Collection...