The incredible liberal legacy of Jim Wallace - Alex Cole-Hamilton
On a wet and windy day in May 2024, Jim Wallace hurried into the Scottish Liberal Democrat press office in the Scottish Parliament. He was on a mission.
With a general election having just been called, we were set to announce Jim as the chair of the party’s campaign in Scotland.
Anorak on, wiping down his glasses, he stood at the door and gave me my cues: “Right Alex, let’s go.”
In the teeming rain, sheltering under a couple of golden umbrellas, we dashed outside to speak to journalists. Behind us, the rooftops of the place that Jim had helped to found pierced the sky; in front, the cameras and microphones absorbed our excitement about what was to come.
I remember thinking how natural Jim was with every member of the media. Sincere, funny, kind and enviably eloquent. The kind of person who makes everyone’s job feel effortless. An out-and-out professional.
Born in Dumfriesshire and educated at Cambridge and Edinburgh universities, Jim was called to the bar in 1979, later becoming a QC. For many years, he served as the Liberal Democrat MP and later MSP for the Northern Isles, and in 1992 he was elected leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, guiding the party through the devolution referendum in 1997.
I first saw Jim during a debate that year, where he made an extremely memorable and compelling case for a Scottish parliament. Listening to him filled you with hope. He envisioned a parliament that would give Scots more control over their own lives and build great public services. He believed passionately in the liberal potential of this new parliament: to make Scotland a better place for everyone.
Jim was one of the architects of modern Scotland. From 1999 to 2005, he served in government as Deputy First Minister. He also stepped up to be acting First Minister on three occasions: once while Donald Dewar underwent heart surgery in April 2000, then after Dewar’s death in October 2000 and again following the resignation of Henry McLeish in 2001.
During that time, he used his integrity and calm judgement to get things done. As well as shaping Scotland’s modern political settlement, he advocated tirelessly on behalf of island communities and helped establish a world-leading freedom of information regime.
Jim combined his accomplishments with a brilliant lightness of touch. His wife Rosie once told me about how they met at a Shakespeare-themed party.
Surrounded by doublets, yellow stockings and velvet robes, Jim sported a jumper stuffed with branches and twigs. When Rosie asked what on earth he had come as, he told her that he was, of course, Birnam Wood coming to High Dunsinane Hill.
The general election he chaired was a huge success, winning our party fresh seats from Milngavie to Fort William. Throughout my adult life, he was a constant source of support. Even as he went into hospital, he was still sending me words of advice and encouragement.
Jim’s incredible liberal legacy is everywhere around us, both within the walls of the parliament he helped to found, and beyond. Scotland is a better place because of Jim Wallace, and the Liberal Democrats are a better party because of his example. I will miss him dearly.