The Dream Shall Never Die: Alex Salmond's Story

[FONT=&quot]“The Dream Shall Never Die: Alex Salmond's Story.”[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]- Foreword -

So this is my first attempt at anything like this. Obviously any constructive criticism would be appreciated. I have started based on the assumption that the Cunningham Amendment failed to pass in the House of Commons and that therefore Scotland voted yes. I hope you all find this of interest and I'll be posting updates are regularly as I can. While I understand the possibility of the Cunningham Amendment failing is an unlikely historical event, I am Scottish and like to thing what might have been from my nations future had we got the Scottish Legislative Assembly. Enjoy!

- Background -

It is March 2nd 1979 and Scotland has just voted Yes by a small majority of nearly 78,000 votes, but voted Yes none the less, for the creation of its own legislative assembly. Britain's Prime Minister James Callaghan has announced that elections for Scotland's first Assembly would be held in the Spring on 1979.

Many Labour MPs have publicly stated their dismay at the outcome of the referendum, believing that this has only begun the process of a nationalist insurgence within Scotland. Had the now infamous Cunningham Amendment, requiring 40% of the total Scottish electorate to vote Yes for the referendum to be considered successful, been passed by the British Parliament it would have meant the referendum would have failed due to the Yes campaign only achieving 32.1% of the total Scottish electorate's support.

George Cunningham MP has publicly stated his dismay at the result of the referendum stating that it could result in the "death of the British nation". The Scottish National Party's (SNP) leader William Wolfe has stated that the "campaign for Scottish Independence has begun". [/FONT]
 
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[FONT=&quot]- 1979: The Early Years -[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](Part 1)[/FONT]
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- Prelude -

Scotland had voted for its own Legislative Assembly and it had been a cause for celebration for many nationalist across Scotland. A young Alex Salmond had only just begun working in the Scotland Office as a Junior Economist in 1978 but this did not stop him becoming a key figure in the events that were to follow. The year of 1979 would be key in the evolution of Alex Salmond's association with the SNP and his political ambitions.

- 1979 -

James Callaghan had announced that elections to the Scottish Assembly would happen on the May 3rd 1979 and that his Labour Government would seek to serve out its full 5 year term meaning a UK election would not occur until the Autumn. On March 10th members of the SNP, including the key figure of SNP Depute Leader Margo MacDonald, gathered in Edinburgh to discuss a governing vision for Scotland. It was at this meeting a young Alex Salmond caught the limelight. He argued for a "socialist and republican Scotland" which resonated with many of those in attendance. It was at this meeting Alex Salmond delivered a now famous speech.
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"The British Establishment has failed to control the vision of Scotland's people. It has failed to curb our ambitions to be better than what we are. Now we will have self governance, and while this is now independence brothers and sisters. What it is, is a chance to change the lives of people in Scotland. What is it, is the chance to expose the mythology I grew up with: that Scotland is a small, poor, dependent country reliant on munificence from outside. What it is, is a chance to govern. Scotland is a country which can hold its head up, and the Scottish National Party is the force that will ensure it does."
Alex Salmond

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Following the event Alex Salmond and five others who were in attendance decided to break into the Royal High School in Edinburgh, the building which was to house the soon to be elected Scottish Assembly. The hung from the windows a massive home made SNP banner depicting Margo MacDonald and SNP leader William Wolfe standing with the Scottish nation in the background. The group were arrested by the police but the news coverage was massive and the six become household names overnight (Chris Cunningham, Rosanna Cunningham, Kenny MacAskill, Stewart Stevenson, Stephen Maxwell and Alex Salmond). The event lead to a decision to set up an insider group within the SNP dedicated to moving the party onto a radical and left wing agenda. The group decided it would name three major spokesmen; Rosanna Cunningham, Alex Salmond and Stephen Maxwell, while Margo MacDonald acted as major supporter of the group.

They decided to call themselves the 79 Group and acted like a think tank and pressure group as the party attempted to develop a manifesto for the fast approaching Scottish Assembly elections. William Wolfe and Margo MacDonald made it clear they wanted to present a left wing and socialist vision but key players in the party like Winnie Ewing, Gordon Wilson and Jim Fairlie were openly opposed to a move towards the left arguing that the party should be focused on "independence first, second and forever". This tension meant that the SNP manifesto was relatively weak on any sort of policy or vision for the Scottish Assembly. Whereas its political opponents on the other hand the had strong policies, however much in the end turned out to drawn for the main election manifestos for the autumn UK election. The Labour Party was being lead by the fiercely pro-devolutionist Dennis Canavan, Russell Fairgrieve reluctantly took up the position of Scottish Conservative Leader having been Chairman of the Scottish Branch and former Liberal Leader Jo Grimond, took up the mantel of Scottish Liberal Leader. Jim Sillars would also lead the Scottish Labour Party into these elections hoping to dislodge the Labour Party from Scotland and create an agreement based system where SLP MPs supported the Labour Party in Westminister and Labour did not run in Scottish elections.

71 MSAs (Members of Scottish Assembly) positions where created based on the current Scottish UK Parliament constituencies. Alex Salmond orginally had stated he did not want to run for election having only been a little over a year into his current role with the Scotland Office but was convinced by Margo MacDonald and William Wolfe to run for the constituency of West Lothian where Salmond was originally from. While the chances of his success were limited he ran anyway after Wolfe decided not to run for the Scottish Assembly but for Westminster in the Autumn believing it was better to have the SNP's Leader fighting in Westminster and it's Depute fighting in Scotland.

The SNP did have one advantage in these elections, they began campaigning from the day after the referendum and suddenly the idea of an SNP make real changes was a possibility. However nothing in the end would stop the Labour onslaught that was to come. Labour would emerge from the first Scottish Assembly elections with a clear majority coming in at 40 seats out of 71. However the SNP did better than many expected with 14 seats, the Conservative Party came a close second with 13 seats and the Liberal Party ended on 4 seats. The Scottish Labour Party was roundly defeated in all seats it challenged in with Jim Sillars being the closest to winning his South Ayrshire seat come third with 18% of the vote.

However this election would also be remembered for the great election victory of a young Alex Salmond. Despite being only 25 he would take the seat of West Lothian to the dismay of the Labour MP for the are Tam Dayell, who famously said on the night, "there is now a question mark placed on West Lothian, who represents them? The Labour Party or some kid in a suit, this in the folly of devolution."


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[FONT=&quot]Alex Salmond and his partner Moria at the SNP afterparty in West Lothian. Alex Salmond emerged victorious over his Labour opponent by just 312 votes.[/FONT]
 
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Interesting. I wonder what butterflies this will have in the 1979 UK election. Thatcher v Salmond? Or will there be no Thatcher?
 
[FONT=&quot]- 1979: "Only the beginning" -[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](Part 2)[/FONT]

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- Prelude -

Scotland's elections for its first Legislative Assembly is over and Labour have a majority. Its young First Secretary Dennis Canavan has set out a raft of proposals set to make major changes to the countries education system and on land ownership. However it would be this year when Alex Salmond would truly make his first mark on the national scene.

- 1979 -

On May 15th Alex Salmond made his first speech in chamber of the Old Royal School House, or as it was now called the Scottish Assembly Buildings. His remarks were on the Scottish Executive's announcement that it would beginning the process of building a new building for the Scottish Assembly to be housed. It was meet with roars of approval from all but the Conservative Party and one Alex Salmond. Standing up he called for a Scottish Assembly to rival the Parliaments of Europe, "for one day that building will not just host a Scottish Executive control by English puppet masters, but it will house the Government of the Scottish Republic". The building rocked with Alex Salmond's words, cries of shame from Unionists and cries of joy from Nationalist. That quote was carried the next day by every Scottish newspaper and Television network and a debate started, just what should the new Scottish Assembly be like.

Over the next month the Scottish National Party used the Assembly building as a means to drum up support and it was Alex Salmond that was at the forefront of it. However this started to cause great problems within the party, as the right of the party wanted to focus on achieving Independence not, as they saw it, going along with Labour's half-baked solution. To make matters worse the up-coming EEC elections had caused considerable tension as many of the young generation where generally supportive of the movement, whereas the older generation like Gordon Wilson and Jim Fairlie were strongly against the union and advocated boycotting the election. This came to ahead on May 22nd, deadline for candidate registration, when without agreement from the SNP's national executive leader William Wolfe and the Westminster Leader Margaret Bain secretly nominated SNP MP Winnie Ewing for the election. When the it was publicly confirmed that Ewing would be standing for the SNP in the election, Gordon Wilson attempted to secure a vote of no-confidence in William Wolfe for "dictatorial behaviour". By May 24th the media had got wind of the potential leadership challenge so in an attempt to knock it of the radar Alex Salmond, working alongside Margo MacDonald and Muriel Gibson, proposed the Abolishment of Private Schooling Measure[1]. For the second time in a month Salmond had hit the headlines, while his bill was always doomed to fail due to strong opposition from the parties in the Scottish Assembly, including SNP MSAs, it inspired people to take the SNP seriously. Jim Sillars, who would join the party after the EEC elections, would later state the Salmond-MacDonald-Gibson bill as the thing which convinced him socialism was possible through the SNP.

- 1979 EEC Election -
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Winnie Ewing's national profile as Scotland's current representative to the EEC, a current MP and general name recognition made her victory in the elections a real possibility. On June 7th the announcement of the UK's EEC elections were taken very seriously by the politicians and media but not so by the public. A little over 30% of the public would vote in these elections but the low turnout would be an asset for the SNP. Winnie Ewing elected to serve as a EEC Representative and publicly credited Alex Salmond for the support of her campaign. Ewing's election and Salmond's private education bill ended any hope of Wilson securing the necessary votes for no-confidence motion against William Wolfe but a deep heated resentment between both men began following the events.

[1]In OTL the Scotland Act of 1978 only empowered the Scottish Assembly to enact Measures not Acts. It was to ensure that the Secretary of State and Prime Minister of the day could veto any unfavorable legislation.
 
Love the idea of Alex Salmond, joining politics early, he is definitly a very strong personality in Politics, especially with the upcoming election.
 
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