Former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace, Lord Wallace of Tankerness, has died aged 71.
He was undergoing a procedure at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh today, but suffered complications afterwards.
Current Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton described him as “one of the architects of modern Scotland and one of the finest liberals our party has ever produced.
“He believed deeply in devolution as a way to give people better services and more control over their own lives and he lived a life of public service right up until the end.
“Even as he went into hospital for the final time, he was still sending me words of advice and I will always try to live up to the standards he set.”
Jim Wallace was born in Dumfriesshire and educated at Annan Academy before attending Cambridge and Edinburgh universities. He was called to the bar in 1979, practising mainly in civil law cases, and became a QC in 1997.
He was elected to parliament in 1983 as MP for Orkney & Shetland, succeeding Jo Grimond, and held the seat for 18 years, earning a formidable reputation as a diligent constituency champion and a respected voice at Westminster.
After becoming leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats in 1992, he led the party through the Scottish devolution referendum in 1997, having also been a member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention which created the blueprint for devolution and a Scottish Parliament.
He was one of the first intake of MSPs in 1999, being elected as MSP for Orkney and became Deputy First Minister of Scotland, serving in government to 2005. He became acting First Minister while Donald Dewar underwent heart surgery in April 2000, after Dewar’s death in October 2000 and again following the resignation of Henry McLeish in 2001.
He also held the roles of Minister for Justice and later Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, playing a central role in the early years of devolution and helping to shape Scotland’s modern political settlement. He also established a world-leading freedom of information regime.
In 2007 he entered the House of Lords as Lord Wallace of Tankerness, where he remained an authoritative and thoughtful contributor on constitutional, legal and Scottish affairs, including serving five years as Advocate General for Scotland.
He served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2021 to 2022.
Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney & Shetland, said: “Jim Wallace gave his adult life to serving the people of the Northern Isles, Scotland and the United Kingdom.
“His sudden and tragic death leaves a huge gap in public life. For those of us who knew him as a friend and for his family that gap is one that we shall struggle ever to fill.”
First Minister John Swinney said: “I am profoundly shocked at the passing of Lord Jim Wallace. As the first ever Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Lord Wallace was a hugely important figure in shaping Scotland’s modern political national life.
“Jim helped shape the very first Parliament and he remained an important contributor to Holyrood as a champion of devolution and a strengthened Scottish Parliament.”
Former First Minister Jack McConnell said: “Jim Wallace was the best of men. His contribution to securing a Scottish Parliament, being the best Deputy to three First Ministers that any of us could have hoped for, and a fantastic Cabinet Minister too, will never be matched.
“Honest, reliable and filled with compassion. What a loss he is — but what a difference he made. “I will miss him dearly.”
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