James Michael Trevlyn Grieve (28 July 1932 – 18 August 1995) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and political activist. Born in

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, the son of poet

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid ( , ), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish ...

, Grieve became a journalist, working across print and television.John Calder,
Obituary: Michael Grieve
, 22 August 1995 He first came to attention when he was imprisoned for refusing to do

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

on the grounds that he was 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 ...

.Michael Grieve, SNP stalwart and writer
, '' The Herald'', 19 August 1995 Grieve became a journalist, working for the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' and writing the "Voice of Scotland" column for the ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', and later also serving as Arts Editor for

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

. He edited some of his father's work, including a complete anthology of his work, and also worked on a biography of MacDiarmid. Grieve followed his father into nationalist politics, joining 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), for which he was elected as Vice Chairman with responsibility for publicity in 1969, serving alongside Hugh MacDonald. Grieve's particular focus was to campaign, but the division of labour did not work well, with Douglas Crawford also involved as Director of Communications, and Grieve resigned in 1972. Grieve also stood unsuccessfully for the party in Glasgow Govan at the 1970 general election, and in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

.Craig, F. W. S. (1984). British parliamentary election results, 1974–1983. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. For the last ten years of his life, Grieve underwent treatment for throat cancer which ultimately led to his death in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grieve, Michael 1932 births 1995 deaths People from Shetland Scottish journalists Scottish National Party politicians