![Douglas Crawford (1940 - 2002)](images/douglas_crawford.jpg)
Douglas
Crawford was a man for all seasons. His exceedingly high intelligence
came into public light when, as Dux of Glasgow Academy, he won a
scholarship to Cambridge. There he became an ardent anglophile, and this
was illustrated in his maiden speech in the House of Commons. "On
Scottish Independence, England will lose a surly lodger and acquire a
sympathetic neighbour".
Douglas worked as economist for
the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, and was responsible
for the enormous increase in the circulation of the magazine "Scotland".
It was a financial sacrifice to come to work for the SNP, but he
passionately believed in Scotland’s need to be independent. Alone in the
House of Commons, as MP for Hamilton, I had no researcher, no
speechwriter and no PA. Douglas brought his skills to fulfil these
functions.
He stood for Perth in October 1974
and won. I had a campaign technique of taking a piper onto street
corners and then taking out my loudspeaker. Douglas improved on this and
hired a pipe band!
When the 7 SNP MPs, elected in
February 1974, became 11 in October, Douglas took over all aspects of
the financial portfolio. Amendments were always lodged and earned
Douglas the grudging respect of the Unionist parties.
In addition he established
contacts with all sectors of industry and commerce, and set up meetings
every day to carry our message across. All this he combined with his
company Polycon which he had set up with his great friend John Donachy.
Douglas was also a fitness
fanatic, climbing mountains and playing rugby, a game which he only gave
up after a younger team player said "Don’t worry, sir, I’ll get the
ball".
Many an afternoon Douglas would
persuade colleagues to visit Cambridge, where we visited his old
masters, and the odd pub serving just the true English beer.
Douglas was very proud of his
clever children; Ruth who is now a successful advocate, and Ewan who
works for John Swinney.
Despite a grave illness he
continued to speak for the party and climbed Annapurna in the Himalayas
with Sherpa Tensing.
The Party owes Douglas a huge debt
for his practical contribution and for his dedicated passion. Douglas
loved life and was ready to enjoy the company of all kinds of people. A
good friend and a loyal patriot, we are all diminished by his loss.