John Farquhar Munro (

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

: ''Iain Fearchar Rothach''; 26 August 1934 – 26 January 2014) was a

Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1, ...

politician. He was the

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) for Ross, Skye and Inverness West from 1999 until his retirement in 2011. Previously a

crofter A croft is a traditional Scottish term for a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a ten ...

and a local

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

for 33 years, including 11 years as Convener of Skye and Lochalsh District Council, he was first elected to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

at the 1999 election. Running against him for Labour was

Donnie Munro Donnie Munro (Scottish Gaelic: Donaidh Rothach /dɔnɪ rɔhəx/) (born 2 August 1953) is a Scottish musician and politician, best known as the former lead singer of the band Runrig. Munro served as the bands lead vocalist during their most commer ...

, former member of the band

Runrig Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included brothers and songwriters Rory MacDonald (musician), Rory MacDonald (bass, vocals) and Calum MacDonald (musician), Calum ...

, but Munro won by 1,539 votes. He was one of three Lib Dem MSPs to oppose his party's coalition with the Labour Party (along with Keith Raffan and Donald Gorrie) and deviated from the Executive on a number of issues (such as

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, on which he believed they were not moving quickly enough). He was prominent within the parliament in opposing the

Skye Bridge The Skye Bridge () is a road bridge over Loch Alsh, Scotland, connecting the Isle of Skye to the island of Eilean Bàn. The name is also used for the whole Skye Crossing, which further connects Eilean Bàn to the mainland across the Carrich V ...

tolls, to the extent of threatening to resign from the Lib Dems if they were not removed. The tolls were abolished in December 2004. As befitted one of the few native

speakers in the

, he co-sponsored (along with 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, ...

's Michael Russell) a bill to secure the language's status as being equal to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. He was angry when the Labour-Liberal

Scottish Executive The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...

refused to back it. He was re-elected to the Scottish Parliament at the 2003 election with an increased share of the vote. After the 2007 election he was the oldest MSP in Holyrood. He stepped down as an MSP at the

2011 Scottish Parliament general election Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

, at which time his constituency was abolished. In a surprise move Munro expressed support for

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. Munro died at his home on 26 January 2014, at the age of 79.

References

External links

*
John Farquhar Munro MSP
profile at the site of Scottish Liberal Democrats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, John Farquhar 1934 births 2014 deaths People from Skye and Lochalsh Liberal Democrat MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 People educated at Plockton High School Shinty players