Ian Macdonald | |
|---|---|
| National Organiser of the Scottish National Party | |
| In office 1962–1968 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | John McAteer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ian C. H. Macdonald 1934 (age 91–92) |
| Party | Scottish National Party |
Ian C. H. Macdonald (born 1934) is a former Scottish nationalist activist.
Macdonald studied at the Glasgow Academy and University of Glasgow before undertaking National Service [1] He joined the Scottish National Party (SNP),and began working on a farm in Killearn,in 1956 starting a branch of the SNP in nearby Balfron. The following year,he inherited the family farm in Newmilns,and started the Irvine Valley branch of the party. [2] He was elected to the SNP organisation committee,and in 1961 to its executive. [3] The party also stood him as its candidate at the 1961 Glasgow Bridgeton by-election,its first by-election candidacy in nine years. Supported by election agent Alan Niven,Macdonald won 18.7% of the vote in a seat which the party had never previously contested. This result delighted Macdonald,who sold the farm to become the SNP's first full-time national organiser since the early 1950s. [4] [5]
Macdonald proved a very effective organiser,travelling the nation to set up new branches. [6] He married Karen,daughter of SNP activist Douglas Drysdale,although then struggled as Douglas interfered with his work. [7]
By the time Macdonald stood down,in 1968,the SNP had gone from having 140 branches to having 484,and official membership had risen to 120,000. [8] He subsequently became a vice-president of the party,and remained on the party's national executive through the 1970s,during which time he ran a dry cleaning business. He also stood unsuccessfully for the SNP in several elections:Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire in 1970,Hamilton in February and October 1974,when he took 39% of the vote,and Central Ayrshire in 1979. [1]
Macdonald also received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1967. [9] He was interviewed by The National in 2025,alongside Karen,at which time the couple remained SNP members. [10]