Isobel Lindsay (born 1943) is a former sociology lecturer, known as a

Scottish nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into ...

and peace activist. Born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, Lindsay studied at

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a Boarding school, boarding and day school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was founded in 1588 as a boy's school and was open for nearly four centuries. In the late 19th century, ...

and at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, then was based at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

, initially as a research fellow, then later as a lecturer in sociology.''The Times House of Commons 1970'', p.166Henrik Halkier, ''Institutions, Discourse, and Regional Development'', p.597Stuart Christie, ''My Granny Made Me an Anarchist'' In 1960, she was a signatory to the Committee of 100 anti-war group, and through the group, she met and married

Tom McAlpine Thomas McAlpine (23 September 1929 – 21 February 2006) was a Scottish nationalist politician. Born in Wishaw, McAlpine studied at Dalziel High School, then graduated in engineering from the Royal College of Science and Technology in Glasgow ...

. Their son is

Robin McAlpine Robin Lindsay McAlpine (born December 1972) is a Scottish campaigner who was the Director of the Common Weal think tank from 2014 to 2021. He has previously worked as a journalist, and was the first director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation. McAlpine p ...

. Lindsay joined 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, ...

(SNP) at an early age and first stood for the Westminster parliament (unsuccessfully) in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

at the 1970 general election, and became a member of the party's National Executive the same year. She was first elected as a Vice Chair of the party in 1972, initially with responsibility for publicity, then later served as Vice Chair for policy. She stood again at the

1978 Berwick and East Lothian by-election The 1978 Berwick and East Lothian by-election was a by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Berwick and East Lothian in Scotland on 26 October 1978. It was one of two UK parliamentary by-elections held on that day, and was won ...

. This was controversial, as the Berwick and East Lothian branch of the SNP had already selected a candidate for the next general election. Although party rules stated that prospective parliamentary candidates were suspended at by-elections, he initially refused to stand aside, and Lindsay only agreed reluctantly to stand, amid several resignations from the local branch. Lindsay took only 8.8 per cent of the vote and lost her deposit. Although strongly associated with the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politic ...

of the SNP, Lindsay did not join the

79 Group The 79 Group was a faction within the Scottish National Party (SNP), named after its year of formation, 1979. The group sought to persuade the SNP to take an active left-wing stance, arguing that it would win more support, and were highly critic ...

. She remained on the SNP's executive until 1989, when she resigned from the party, as the sole executive member to support the party participating in the

Scottish Constitutional Convention The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution. History Campaign for a Scottish Assembly The Conventi ...

. She became the final convenor of the

Campaign for a Scottish Assembly The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution. History Campaign for a Scottish Assembly The Conventi ...

before this ambition was achieved.Jonathan Hearn, ''Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture'', p.59 In 1994, she joined the Labour Party, and attempted to stand for the party at the

1999 Scottish Parliament election The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parlia ...

, but she was not approved by the party leadership. Active in the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...

(CND) from her youth, Lindsay served as its vice-chair in the 2000s, also on the board of '' Scottish Left Review'', while being prominent in the

National Collective National Collective was a political organisation self-described as an "open and non-party ..group of artists and creatives" who support Scottish independence active from 2011 to 2015. The organisation was founded in late 2011 by Ross Colquhoun, An ...

.Isobel Lindsay
,

, 18 August 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Isobel 1943 births Living people Academics of the University of Strathclyde Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish anti-war activists People from Lanarkshire People educated at Hamilton Academy Scottish National Party politicians Scottish sociologists Scottish women activists Scottish women sociologists Scottish nationalists Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates