When Edinburgh high-flyers Robin Cook and Malcolm Rifkind made their first bid for parliament

50th anniversary of 1970 general election
Robin Cook gets helped onto a horse at a photocall to poke fun at his Tory rivalRobin Cook gets helped onto a horse at a photocall to poke fun at his Tory rival
Robin Cook gets helped onto a horse at a photocall to poke fun at his Tory rival

IT was the hottest polling day of any general election in the past 100 years but there was cold comfort for two Edinburgh political high-flyers making their first attempt to get into parliament.

Labour’s Robin Cook and Tory Malcolm Rifkind - who would both go on to serve as Foreign Secretary - made their debuts, standing unsuccessfully in the Capital at the 1970 general election 50 years ago today.

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Robin Cook fought the safe Tory seat of Edinburgh North while Malcolm Rifkind made his bid in the Labour stronghold of Edinburgh Central.

Malcolm Rifkind with his wife EdithMalcolm Rifkind with his wife Edith
Malcolm Rifkind with his wife Edith

The election took place just a few months after the last serious flu pandemic in the UK, known as Hong Kong flu, had faded away. It had started in the summer of 1968 but the UK was among the countries hit worst by the second wave in 1969/70. An estimated one to four million people died globally.

Harold Wilson, Labour prime minister for the past six years, was expected by many to call the election for October 1970. But by May polls gave Labour a seven per cent lead and Wilson decided to go for it.

George Foulkes, a future MP, minister, MSP and peer, was the Labour candidate in Edinburgh West. He recalls: “1970 was a really busy year for me - on May 5, I had been elected councillor for Sighthill ward; I’d already been selected as the candidate for the general election in June; and my wedding was on July 4.” Luckily, his fiancée Liz was an active party member and eagerly joined him on the campaign trail.

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His agent in Edinburgh West was Tony Grahame - brother of the SNP MSP Christine Grahame - who later moved over to the SNP.

Ronald King Murray and supporters celebrate his win in LeithRonald King Murray and supporters celebrate his win in Leith
Ronald King Murray and supporters celebrate his win in Leith

But another key figure in his campaign team was Jim Boyack, father of Lothian Labour MSP Sarah Boyack.

“Jim had also got elected to the council, in South Leith, and was my closest friend in politics.

“He had this VW Beetle which he used to drive me around in and it had a sun roof - I stood rather perilously on the seat and waved to people.“It was a lovely summer and I ended up with a great suntan.”

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Foulkes, 28 - whose leaflets carried the slogan “Labour’s Young Man for the 70s” - was standing against Tony Stodart, who had been Tory MP for Edinburgh West for the previous 11 years. The Liberal candidate was Donald Gorrie, later a long-serving councillor, MP and MSP. And the SNP was fielding a candidate in the seat for the first time.

Gavin Strang with his wife and supporters after being elected MP for Edinburgh EastGavin Strang with his wife and supporters after being elected MP for Edinburgh East
Gavin Strang with his wife and supporters after being elected MP for Edinburgh East

“Tony was rather aristocratic and I remember bumping into him on election day at a polling station in Barnton. He shook my hand and then asked: ‘Fancy a G and T?’ I told him it was a bit early in the day and I didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to be seen drinking with the Tory candidate.”

Foulkes admits Edinburgh West was “a long shot” for Labour, but that did not diminish the effort put in.

“These were the days of big public meetings and my biggest one was on the eve of poll in Craigroyston school with Roy Jenkins as main speaker. we had over 1000 people, a stunning turnout even in those days.”

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He also recalls Harold Wilson addressing a rally in a packed Usher Hall. “He was the most amazing speaker. He was brilliant, captivating the audience. It was the old style - he dealt with hecklers brilliantly, I think he quite liked them. I can't think of anyone since then who has been as good in large rallies.”

Meanwhile in Edinburgh North, centred on the New Town, 24-year-old Robin Cook was standing against the Earl of Dalkeith - later to become the 9th Duke of Buccleuch.

He and his campaign team produced a leaflet with a picture of the Earl in full hunting gear and the caption “Does this man really represent you?”

And they staged a photocall to parody the Earl with Robin Cook joining George Foulkes’ fiancée Liz on the back of a horse.

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But election day went badly for Labour in Edinburgh North. Mr Cook and his wife Margaret were driving down Broughton Street in their red Rover when a council dustcart crashed into them and gouged a large hole in the side of the car. The accident featured on the Scottish TV news that evening.

Next door in Edinburgh Central, Malcolm Rifkind - who had been president of Edinburgh University Tory club when Cook was president of the Labour club - was also taking his first steps into parliamentary electoral politics.

But like George Foulkes, Rifkind - then 23 and training to become an advocate - had marriage on his mind as much as manifestoes. The election was announced six days before he and fiancée Edith were due to be wed. They went ahead with the wedding, but postponed their two-week honeymoon to Florence and Rome and Edith joined her new husband pounding the streets of the Capital.

In his memoirs Rifkind says: “The campaign itself was great fun. We had the use of a large empty shop in Lothian Road with ‘Vote Rifkind’ plastered on the windows. I decided to be unconventional and used purple rather than blue as my campaign colours.”

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The Tories were behind in the polls throughout the campaign and it was thought Labour would “romp” home, but it turned out there was a late swing to the Tories. Factors said to have contributed to the surprise defeat included England being knocked out of the World Cup by Germany the weekend before polling day and trade figures on the Monday of election week which showed an unexpected increase in the deficit.

Polling day saw beautiful weather across the country. In Edinburgh, it was "sunny and warm but with a pleasant breeze".

Good weather was traditionally seen as favouring Labour. But the turnout, at 72 per cent, proved the lowest since 1935. Across the UK there was an average swing from Labour to Conservative of 4.8 per cent – although only 2.9 per cent in Scotland. The Tories ended up with an overall majority of 30 and Ted Heath got the keys to Number Ten.

When the votes were counted at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange, Rifkind had cut Labour’s majority in Central from 4,015 to 1,561 while Robin Cook in North and George Foulkes in West saw Labour’s share of the vote dip.

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Elsewhere in the city, Gavin Strang, then just 26, began his 40-year Commons stint getting elected as Labour MP for Edinburgh East; Ronald King Murray, later a judge, was elected for the first time as Labour MP for Leith; and the Tories held on comfortably in Edinburgh South and Pentlands.

Foulkes recalls how a campaign message, left up long after polling day, became a lingering reminder of the disappointment.

“We had a huge big poster saying ‘Labour will win’ in 6ft high letters on the railway bridge in Ferry Road in Pilton. Every time I was driving down Ferry Road afterwards it jarred a little.”

Within a year Cook and Rifkind both found themselves elected to Edinburgh council alongside Foulkes and at the next general election, in February 1974, they were both elected MPs - Cook taking over Edinburgh Central and Rifkind replacing a retiring Tory in Edinburgh Pentlands.

Foulkes stood against Rifkind in Pentlands in the October 1974 election and became MP for South Ayrshire in 1979.

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