Alex C. Falconer (1 April 1940 – 12 August 2012) was a Labour Party politician in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was the

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for Mid Scotland and Fife from

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. He was a campaigner on international development, globalisation, equalities, human rights and environmental issues. He was prominent in leading a number of campaigns throughout the

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

years, including against the

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

and water privatisation.

Early life and career

Born in 1940, Alex Falconer left school without any formal qualifications. His first employment was as a lodge boy in the Blackness Foundry in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. After being made redundant in 1958, he joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, in which he served for nine years. After a short period as a labourer in the

Ministry of Public Building and Works The Ministry of Works was a department of the UK Government formed in 1940, during the Second World War, to organise the requisitioning of property for wartime use. After the war, the ministry retained responsibility for government building proj ...

, and a year as a stoker in a

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

hospital, he joined

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation i ...

as a lagger in 1969. He became a shop steward in 1970, and served on many negotiating committees in the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Political career

Falconer joined the Labour Party in 1973, and was a Scottish Labour Party Conference delegate, on behalf of the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

, from 1975 until he was elected as an MEP. He also served as chairman of

Fife Trades Council Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. In the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, he supported the cause of striking miners against the Thatcher government and the cause of people who had contracted pleural plaque because of exposure to

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

, having set a legal precedent when he took forward his own case. He foiled proposals for European secrecy laws by getting himself made rapporteur and then being unable to complete his report because the information he requested was not made available. He also made himself a target for neo-fascist ire, after campaigning against a visit to Edinburgh by

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (20 June 1928 – 7 January 2025), commonly known as Jean-Marie Le Pen (), was a French politician, lawyer and activist. He founded the far-right National Front (now National Rally) party and served as the party's presi ...

of the French National Front. His aide for five years was the newly-graduated

Richard Leonard Richard Leonard (born January 1962) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the Central Scotland ...

, a future

Leader of the Scottish Labour Party The office of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party was established when the Scottish Parliament was formed in 1998 prior to its inaugural election. Until the Murphy and Boyack review in 2011, the office was Leader of the Labour Party in the Scot ...

. He was a staunch supporter of the founding principles of the Labour Party, fighting for the retention of Labour's commitment to

common ownership Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise, or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every economi ...

and redistribution. He supported

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and political activist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabine ...

in the 1988 Labour Party leadership election and was a founding member of the Scottish Labour grouping

Campaign for Socialism Campaign for Socialism (CfS) is an autonomous political organisation of Scottish Labour Party members and supporters who campaign for left-wing policies and candidates within the party. In 2016, CfS agreed to a joint membership scheme with Moment ...

in 1994. During his period of office, he served on several European Parliamentary committees – Economic Monetary and Industrial Policy; Environmental and Public Health and Safety; Legal Affairs and Citizens Rights; Regional Policy; and External Trade and Relations.

Death

Following the announcement of Falconer's death, tributes were made by former Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

and Scottish Labour leader

Johann Lamont Johann MacDougall Lamont (; born 11 July 1957) is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She was previously a junior Scottish Executive minister from 2004 to 2007 and De ...

."Former Fife Labour MEP Alex Falconer who was friends with Gordon Brown dies"
STV"Tributes paid to former MEP Alex Falconer"
BBC

Publications

pamphlets including "The Democratic Deficit" (1991), "Usage and Abusage of the Wealth of Nations" (1992), "Global Village Economics" (1995), "Beyond the Wealth of Nations" (1997), and "The Ill Divided World" (1999).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falconer, Alex 1940 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Royal Navy personnel Scottish Labour MEPs MEPs for Scotland 1984–1989 MEPs for Scotland 1989–1994 MEPs for Scotland 1994–1999 Royal Navy sailors