On 10 October 2000, Dewar sustained a fall, and the following day he died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 63 while still in office. Deputy First MinisterJim Wallace served as the acting first minister, until Henry McLeish was announced to succeed Dewar. Often regarded as the "Father of the Nation", Dewar is known for his work and commitment to the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament and being the inaugural first minister of Scotland.
Donald Campbell Dewar was born on Saturday, 21 August 1937 in Glasgow.[4] He grew up in a middle-class[5] household in Kelvingrove as the only child of Dr. Alasdair Dewar, a consultant dermatologist,[6] and Mary Howat Dewar (née Bennett).[7] Both of Dewar's parents had ill health during his childhood; his father contracted tuberculosis and his mother suffered from a benign brain tumour when he was young.[8]
Dewar attended a small school in the Scottish Borders during the Second World War.[9] From the age of nine, he was educated at Mosspark Primary School and then The Glasgow Academy.[10][11] He made few friends at school and blamed his "shyness and gauche manner" on his experience as being an only child.[5] A year before his death, Dewar admitted that he had been an "isolated misfit" in his youth, which is a reasoning for his public image of being awkward.
In 1961, Dewar gained a Master of Arts degree in History and in 1964 a second-class Bachelor of Law degree. After graduating, he worked as a solicitor in Glasgow.[13]
Early political career
Member of Parliament
Dewar was a member of the Labour Party, and soon turned his sights towards being elected to parliament. In 1962, he was selected as the Labour candidate for the Aberdeen South constituency. In the 1964 general election, he failed to win the seat, but won it at the 1966 general election at the age of 28 defeating Priscilla Tweedsmuir by 1,799 votes.[14]
Dewar remained in that position at the Department of Education until 1969, in which year he opposed a visit to Aberdeen by the Springbok rugby team and staged a silent vigil near the team's ground. In April 1968, he was proposed for a Minister of State position by Roy Jenkins, but was not appointed. Dewar lost his constituency seat to the Conservative candidate Iain Sproat at the 1970 general election by over 1,000 votes.
Out of parliament
Dewar spent much of the 1970s looking for another parliamentary seat. He hosted a Friday evening talk show on Radio Clyde, and in June 1971 was beaten by Dennis Canavan when he applied for the seat of West Stirlingshire. He worked as a solicitor for much of that decade and became a reporter on children's panels and was involved with the Lanarkshire local authority. Dewar became a partner in Ross Harper Murphy, in 1975.
Dewar gained a parliamentary platform as chairman of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee. After a year honing his inquisitorial skills, he joined the front bench in November 1980 as a Scottish affairs spokesman when Michael Foot became party leader. In 1981, as the Labour Party divided itself further due to internal disagreement, Dewar was almost deselected in his constituency by hard left activists, but he successfully defended himself against this threat.
He rose quickly through the ranks, becoming Shadow Scottish Secretary in November 1983. On 21 December 1988, Dewar was in Lockerbie after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103,[17] as the member of the Shadow Cabinet in charge of Scottish affairs. In 1992, John Smith made him Shadow Social security Secretary and three years later, Dewar was made a Chief Whip for the Labour Party by Tony Blair.
Secretary of State for Scotland; 1997–1999
At the 1997 general election, he became MP for Glasgow Anniesland, which was mostly the same constituency with minor boundary changes. Labour won this election by a landslide, and Dewar was given the post of Secretary of State for Scotland. He was able to start the devolution process he dreamt of years earlier, and worked on creating the Scotland Act, popularly referred to as "Smith's unfinished business". When ratified, this was to give Scotland its first Parliament for nearly 300 years.
Although Scottish Labour won more seats than any other party, they did not have a majority in Parliament to allow them to form an Executive without the help of a smaller party. A deal was agreed with the Scottish Liberal Democrats to form a coalition, with Dewar agreeing to their demand for the abolition of up front tuition fees for university students.[23]
Dewar chairs the first reconvened Scottish Cabinet as First Minister
On 16 June, Dewar set out the legislative programme for the Executive which included: an Education bill to improve standards in Scottish schools; land reform to give right of access to the countryside, a bill to abolish the feudal system of land tenure; and a bill to establish national parks in Scotland.[3]
Lobbygate scandal
One of the first scandals to hit the new Scottish Parliament occurred when allegations that the lobbying arm of public relations company Beattie Media had privileged access to ministers were published, prompting Dewar to ask the standards committee to investigate the reports.[25] The minister for finance, Jack McConnell, was called to appear before the standards committee during the investigation although he was later cleared of any wrongdoing and the committee declared there was no evidence he had been influenced from lobbying by Beattie Media.[26]
Dewar also threatened to sack any minister or aide who briefed the media against another member of the Scottish Executive, following public rows between Jack McConnell and Health MinisterSusan Deacon over the budget allocated to health .[27]
The introduction in Scotland of the reformed examinations system in 2000 was criticised in the press and by the Government after a series of administrative and computer errors led to several thousand incorrect Higher and Intermediate certificates being sent out by post. The crisis took several months to resolve, and several management figures including the Chief Executive, Ron Tuck, resigned or lost their jobs as a result.[citation needed]
Delivered speech to the Irish-Scottish Academic Initiative
Personal life
On 20 July 1964, Dewar married Alison Mary McNair, with whom he had two children: a daughter, Marion, and a son, Ian. In 1972, McNair separated from Dewar and entered a relationship with the then Derry Irvine, a prominent Scottish barrister in London. Dewar and his wife divorced in 1973, and he never remarried.[29] Dewar and Lord Irvine of Lairg never reconciled, even though they later served in the same Cabinet from May 1997 until 1999.
In September 2009, Dennis Canavan said Dewar reacted callously when Canavan's son was diagnosed with skin cancer in 1989. The disease eventually killed him. Canavan said Dewar remarked, "Oh no! That's all we need. He was mad enough before but I shudder to think what he'll be like now."[30]
Dewar amassed a personal fortune in excess of £2,000,000 including public utility shares, antiques and artwork with a value of over £400,000.[31]
Death and funeral
In early 2000, Dewar was admitted to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary after tests at Stobhill Hospital highlighted "minor irregularity" in his heart.[32][33] In May 2000, tests revealed he had a faulty aortic valve and he underwent a four hour heart operation to repair a leaking heart valve.[34] His personal spokesperson, David Whitton, stated "he is as concerned about his health as anyone else would be". Although Dewar was not going under surgery, considerations over whether to cancel foreign trips to Japan were under close watch.[35]
Dewar was forced to take a three-month break and Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace took over as acting first minister.[36] After returning to office, Dewar was described as being "visibly tired" and fears for his health at this stage were officially dismissed following a First Minister's Question Time.[37][38][39]
Dewar dealt with the 2000 exam results controversy and the lorry drivers' strike, and attended the Labour Party conference in Brighton, but on 29 September 2000[40] he told the historian Tom Devine in Dublin that if he did any not feel better, he would have to reappraise the situation in a few months' time.[41]
On 10 October 2000, Dewar sustained a seemingly harmless fall outside his official residence at Bute House following a meeting of the Scottish Cabinet.[42] He seemed fine at first, but later that day suffered a massive brain haemorrhage which was possibly triggered by the anticoagulant medication he was taking following his heart surgery. At 7pm, five hours after his fall, Dewar was admitted to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh after his condition rapidly deteriorated. By 9pm, he was put on a life-support machine in the hospital's intensive care unit.[43] Dewar's condition worsened and he failed to regain consciousness. On 11 October at 12:18pm, Dewar was officially pronounced dead, aged 63.[44][45]
Dewar's death came as a shock to Scotland. UK Foreign Secretary described his death as "a tragedy for Donald and a tragedy for Scotland." Henry McLeish said: "this is a day of enormous sadness for Scotland and for me personally. Donald was devolution. The architect of the most successful constitutional change this century."[50]
"Although he has become something of a political legend, Donald would have abhorred any attempt to turn him into some kind of secular saint. He would have been horrified at a Diana-style out-pouring of synthetic grief at his untimely death." — Iain Macwhirter, Sunday Herald, 15 October 2000.
Dewar's commitment for re-establishing the Scottish Parliament and his tireless work on writing the Scotland Act 1998 has led to him being referred to as the "Father of the Nation" and the "Father of devolution".[52][53][54][55][56] His advocacy for Scottish devolution began in the 1960s, and at this stage, it was fairly unpopular among many Labour politicians, however, he ploughed ahead to gain support from all parties.[57] Although Dewar did not associate with Scottish nationalism or support attempts for independence, he was a "great unionist" and saw the new Parliament as a "journey not a destination", which left many Labour supporters to question devolution.[58] He introduced a proportional representation and many thought this, and devolution, would "end the Scottish National Party's success", but years on Labour's popularity plummeted and the SNP's popularity grew rapidly.[53]
In 2002, a nine-foot (2.7 m) bronze statue of Dewar was erected outside Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall in a ceremony attended by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, and other Scottish politicians.[59]
Dewar received nicknames such as "Donald Dour" for his stiff matter of fact tone and "The Gannet" because of his huge appetite, could also be applied to his approach to politics.[60]
The statue was taken down in October 2005 to be cleaned, and was re-erected on a 6-foot (1.8 m) high plinth in December in an effort to protect it from vandalism. On the base of the statue were inscribed the opening words of the Scotland Act: "There Shall Be A Scottish Parliament", a phrase to which Dewar himself famously said, "I like that!"
The First ScotRail Class 334 train 334001 was named Donald Dewar in his memory. The "Dewar Arts Award" was created by the Scottish Executive in 2002 dedicated to his memory. This award supports talented young Scottish artists.[62]
Notes
^Jim Wallace acted from 11 October 2000 to 27 October 2000
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