The Right Honourable
Bruce Millan
HonFRSE
Millan, 64, in a portrait photograph
Official portrait, 1992
European Commissioner for Regional Policy
In office
6 January 1989 – 23 January 1995
PresidentJacques Delors
Preceded byGrigoris Varfis
Succeeded byMonika Wulf-Mathies
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
4 May 1979 – 31 October 1983
Leader
Preceded byTeddy Taylor
Succeeded byDonald Dewar
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
8 April 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime MinisterJames Callaghan
Preceded byWillie Ross
Succeeded byGeorge Younger
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Govan
In office
9 June 1983 – 18 October 1988
Preceded byAndrew McMahon
Succeeded byJim Sillars
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Craigton
In office
8 October 1959 – 9 June 1983
Preceded byJack Browne
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born(1927-10-05)5 October 1927
Dundee, Scotland
Died21 February 2013(2013-02-21) (aged 85)
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Gwendoline Fairey
​
(m. 1953)​
Children2
EducationHarris Academy
ProfessionChartered accountant

Bruce Millan HonFRSE[1] (5 October 1927 – 21 February 2013) was a British Labour politician who served as a European Commissioner from 1989 to 1995.

Early life

Bruce Millan was born in Dundee, the son of a shipyard caulker and a jute weaver, and educated at Harris Academy in the city.[2] He was active in the Labour League of Youth while at school, and after it he undertook his national service with the Royal Corps of Signals while studying at the same time for accountancy examinations.[3] He became a chartered accountant in 1950.[4]

Millan married Gwendoline May Fairey on 22 August 1953. The couple had a son and a daughter.[3]

Parliamentary career

Millan unsuccessfully contested West Renfrewshire in the 1951 general election and Glasgow Craigton in that of 1955.

He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Craigton at the 1959 general election and served for that seat, and after its abolition in 1983 for Glasgow Govan, until 1988.[5] He served in the Wilson government of 1964–1970 as Under-Secretary of State for the Air Force from 1964 to 1966, as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1966 to 1970, and in the Callaghan government of 1976–1979 as Secretary of State for Scotland;[6][7]: 47  he subsequently served as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland under new leader Michael Foot. At the time of the 1981 Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election, the first time Millan won election to the Shadow Cabinet, he was described by The Glasgow Herald as being identified with the "Centre-to-right" of the Labour Party.[8]

After Parliament

Millan left Parliament in 1988, by applying for the Chiltern Hundreds, in order to take up the post of European Commissioner for Regional Policy and Cohesion, which he held until 1995.[6] The vacancy he left was filled by Jim Sillars of the SNP in the noteworthy Glasgow Govan by-election of 1988.[9]

In 1991, Millan received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University.[10]

Between 1999 and 2001 he chaired the Millan Committee, which proposed reforms to the provision of mental health care in Scotland.[6][9][11]: 91 

References

  1. ^ "Rt Hon Bruce Millan PC HonFRSE". Royal Society of Edinburgh. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Bruce Millan". The Telegraph. London. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  3. ^ a b Wilson, Brian D. H. (1 January 2017). "Millan, Bruce (1927–2013), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/106179. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ "MILLAN, Rt Hon. Bruce". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 2023 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Wilson, Brian (25 February 2013). "Bruce Millan obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "Former Scottish Secretary Bruce Millan dies aged 85". BBC News. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  7. ^ Beckett, J. V. and Ken Brand (1997). Nottingham: An Illustrated History. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5175-4.
  8. ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (20 November 1981). "Size of Benn vote a new blow to Foot". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  9. ^ a b Gordon, Tom (23 February 2013). "Bruce Millan, former Scottish Secretary, dies at 85". The Herald. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Honorary Graduates – 1966 to present" (PDF). Heriot-Watt University. p. 8. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  11. ^ Keating, Michael (2007). Scottish Social Democracy: Progressive Ideas for Public Policy. Brussels: P.I.E. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-9052010663.

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Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byJack Browne Member of Parliament for Glasgow Craigton 1959–1983 Constituency abolished Preceded byAndrew McMahon Member of Parliament for Glasgow Govan 1983–1988 Succeeded byJim Sillars Political offices Preceded byWilliam Ross Secretary of State for Scotland 1976–1979 Succeeded byGeorge Younger Preceded byStanley Clinton-Davis British European Commissioner 1989–1994 Served alongside: Leon Brittan Succeeded byNeil Kinnock Preceded byThe Lord Cockfield Succeeded byLeon Brittan Preceded byGrigoris Varfis European Commissioner for Regional Policy 1989–1994 Succeeded byMonika Wulf-Mathies
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