On this day in 1934

The SNP came about through a merger between the Scottish Party, formed in 1932, and the older National Party of Scotland, which had been founded in 1928.

One of its earliest mentions in print appears in the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser on 7 April in a report on a meeting of the Airdrie branch of the National Party of Scotland, which concluded, “it is felt that the fusion [of the two parties] will soon justify itself, as while the National Party contains many men famous in the world of letters the Scottish Party has quite a large business element, and the result should be even greater progress in the future.”

Electoral successes

The SNP won its first seat at Westminster in a 1945 by-election, but held it for only three months, losing to Labour at the next general election.

The party’s electoral performance became more consistent through the 1970s when contesting both Westminster and local seats. Success in the 1980s was less obvious, but the party’s performance improved greatly through the 1990s and into the 2000s.

Alex Salmond was elected leader in 1990 and he became a key figure in the campaign for an independent Scottish Parliament, which became a reality following the national Labour election victory in 1997 that ousted the Conservatives and sent Tony Blair to Downing Street.

Largest party in Scotland

In 2007, the SNP became the largest party in the Scottish Parliament and Alex Salmond was appointed First Minister. In 2011, it built on this success to secure an overall majority, at which point it no longer needed the support of other parties to pursue its own agenda. That agenda included a referendum on Scottish independence, which took place in 2014. The ‘no’ camp prevailed.

Salmond stepped down as First Minister in the wake of the referendum result, to be succeeded by his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon. But the disappointing referendum result was not a sign of things to come. In the General Election of 2015, the SNP won 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats, massively increasing its representation in Westminster.

 

...and on this day in 1985

Willie McRae was born in Falkirk in 1923 and was a passionate supporter of Scottish independence. He studied law at the University of Glasgow and represented the Scottish National Party in two general elections, both times contesting seats in the Westminster Parliament.

He was found in his car in the countryside of Inverness-shire on the morning of 6 April 1985, alive but barely conscious, having left Glasgow the previous evening for a cottage he owned in Kintall. A passing doctor was alerted and emergency services were called. An ambulance arrived to take him to hospital in Inverness, and from there to Aberdeen, where a bullet wound was found in his head.

Willie McRae dies

The bullet had caused considerable brain damage, and McRae was placed on life support. However, his condition was deemed irrecoverable, and life support was removed on 7 April.

A subsequent police investigation found the gun that was used to shoot him, in a burn over which his car had come to a halt. His death was ruled suicide, although reports suggest that no fingerprints were found on the gun, which itself was found several metres from the car.

Unexplained events

The Scotsman reported in 2005 that “Fergus Ewing, the MSP for Inverness West, Nairn and Lochaber, has called for [a] meeting with the Lord Advocate in the wake of new claims that McRae – who died in the Highlands 20 years ago last week – was being tailed by the security services.”

McRae had been vocal in his anti-nuclear views, and had successfully prevented the dumping of nuclear waste in the Galloway Hills. At the time of his death he was again campaigning against the dumping of nuclear waste, this time from the nuclear establishment at Dounreay, into the sea. It was reported that documents relating to this were stolen from his office and that the only other copies, which he is said to have carried on him, were unaccounted for after his death.

The SNP launched its own investigation into McRae’s death, and tasked Winnie Ewing with determining whether the official verdict of suicide was justified. However, as the Daily Record reported on 19 October 2007, “she was bluntly denied access to the Crown Office papers in spite of giving the customary legal guarantee of confidentiality”. This left her unable to reach a definitive conclusion.