I first knew a little about Gordon Wilson when, as a Labour MP, I sat opposite him in the House of Commons. He was a worthy opponent in debate, and one whom our benches could respect. It was when I joined the SNP that I came to know him well, and appreciate his qualities.
Gordon was not an easy man to know. He had a reserved personality in public, and kept deeply held passionate views in check, but that was not how he was in private, and it was the private man, the real man, I got to know as at first we disagreed on the fate of the 79 Group, and then worked amicably together as part of the broad based team he built to bring the SNP from the disaster of the 1979 election, to become again a force in Scottish life.
The Gordon Wilson I came to know, like and admire was marked by honesty, integrity, and guided by a moral compass that was unerringly pointed in the direction of what was fair and just in society; and gifted with a political mind that could in a few words bring life to an issue that mattered.
It was Gordon, digging in his garden and thinking about Scotland, who produced the best and most effective political slogan any party has ever had – ‘It’s Scotland’s Oil.’ It was Gordon who, while never neglecting his constituents in Dundee, spent his energy and his own money travelling around Scotland to speak to branches, no matter how small the attendance, to keep the SNP alive. That took stamina, but above all conviction in believing the idea of independence could not be allowed to die.
It is to Gordon Wilson’s leadership in those dark days of the 1980s, when he was restoring a shattered morale and rebuilding its base and credibility, that today’s SNP and the wider independence movement owes an unpayable debt of gratitude. The advancement of the Scottish nation was his objective, and we have come nearer to it because of him.
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