Calum Alistair MacDonald (; born 7 May 1956) is a Scottish former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...

from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997 to 1999.

Early life

MacDonald was born on 7 May 1956 and grew up on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Educated at the Bayble School in Point, Outer Hebrides and Nicolson Institute,

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

, he went on to graduate from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

with MA Honours in History and Politics. During the 1980s, MacDonald was a Teaching Fellow at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) for three years where he also gained his PhD in Political Philosophy. He returned to the UK to help out with the family kitchen and bathroom fittings business. His political interests are wide-ranging. MacDonald's published journalism (''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', the '' Glasgow Herald'' and the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'') include articles on:

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

; the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

;

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

; links between Labour and the Liberal Democrats; Voting Reform; the Debate on Clause IV, etc. He was an early advocate of European defence co-operation, in "A New Model Army" ( Fabian Discussion Paper, 1991) and "European Security at the Crossroads" (in B Crawford and P Schulze, Ed, European Dilemmas after

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

, Centre for German and European Studies UC Berkeley, 1993). In 1990, he co-founded the Future of Europe Trust, which acted as a forum for young politicians across Eastern and Western Europe to progress their views on Europe. Between 1988 and 1992 he served on the Commons Select Committee on Agriculture. In 1991, he piloted his own Private Members Bill through the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, the Crofter Forestry Act, which has since led to the planting of mixed woodland by crofter communities in the Highlands and Islands. Between 1991 and 1995, he was a leading campaigner for Western military intervention in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and a persistent critic of the-then Government's policy. Between 1992 and 1997, he was Chair of Labour Initiative on Co-operation (LINC), a Labour Party pressure group promoting co-operation with the Liberal Democrats.

Parliamentary career

MacDonald was first elected as MP for

at the 1987 general election. A europhile, he was one of only five Labour MPs to vote for the Third Reading of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, defying his party Whip to abstain. In May 1997, he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

. Between December 1997 and July 1999, he was Minister for Housing, Planning and European Affairs at the Scottish Office. Between July 1998 and July 1999, he had additional responsibilities for Transport, Highlands and Islands and Gaelic. In his capacity as Minister for Gaelic, he gave the 1998 Sabhal Mòr Lecture. MacDonald is a former Chair of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

, the Labour Party's senior think-tank. He is an Honorary Fellow of the European Economics and Financial Centre. MacDonald was defeated by Angus MacNeil of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

at the 2005 general election.

After parliament

On 1 April 2006 he was appointed as a non-executive Commissioner for Scotland for the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

for a three-year term.

References

External links

His former website
*
They Work For You

Unflattering blog

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Calum 1956 births Living people Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 University of California, Los Angeles alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Stornoway People educated at the Nicolson Institute Chairs of the Fabian Society