Dennis Canavan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Scottish Parliament forFalkirk West | |
| In office 6 May 1999 – 2 April 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Michael Matheson |
| Member of Parliament forFalkirk West West Stirlingshire (Oct 1974–1983) | |
| In office 10 October 1974 – 21 November 2000 | |
| Preceded by | William Baxter |
| Succeeded by | Eric Joyce |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dennis Andrew Canavan (1942-08-08)8 August 1942 (age 83) |
| Political party | Independent (1999–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (1974–1999) |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottishpolitician. He was the Member of Parliament forFalkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known asWest Stirlingshire from 1974 to 1983), first as a member of theLabour Party, and then as anindependent. He then served as an independentmember of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) forFalkirk West from 1999 to 2007.
In 2014, he was the chair of the Advisory Board ofYes Scotland, the campaign for independence in the2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Born inCowdenbeath, Canavan was educated at St. Bride's andSt. Columba's Schools, Cowdenbeath,St Andrew's College, Drygrange,[1] and at theUniversity of Edinburgh. He worked as a schoolteacher from 1968 until 1974 and was Assistant Head ofHoly Rood High School Edinburgh at the time of his first election to Parliament. Canavan was also head of the maths department at St Modans High in Stirling.
He was leader of theLabour Party Group onStirlingDistrict Council in 1974 and, in October of that year, was elected as Labour Member of Parliament (MP) forWest Stirlingshire. Following boundary changes, he was MP forFalkirk West from 1983 to 2000. He was Chair of theScottish Parliamentary Labour Group from 1980 to 1981. In 1975, he tried introducing a bill to abolishcorporal punishment in schools and his efforts formed part of the case presented to theEuropean Commission of Human Rights which led eventually to abolition. He voted against theBlair Government's proposals to cut benefits for children oflone parents, abolish student grants and introducetuition fees.
A keen sports enthusiast, he was founder and Convener of the Scottish Sports Group at Westminster and the Cross-Party Sports Group in theScottish Parliament. He has completed a marathon in less than three hours and theBen Nevis Race in just over two hours. He won a gold medal, playing for Scotland in the British Universities Football Championships in 1967. In his bookThe Final Whistle?,Harry Reid claims that Canavan took part in the1977 Wembley pitch invasion after Scotland beat England and ripped up a patch of the turf.[2]
He takes an active interest ininternational affairs and served as a member of the House of Commonsselect committees onForeign Affairs andInternational Development. He is still a member of theCampaign for Nuclear Disarmament andAmnesty International and is interested inconflict resolution.
He chaired the Northern Ireland Committee of theParliamentary Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, and led several parliamentary delegations to Ireland duringThe Troubles. He served on theBritish-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body from 1992 to 2000. As a member of the European and External Relations Committee of the Scottish Parliament, he was author of a report on the potential for co-operation betweenScotland and Ireland. He has frequently spoken out againstsectarianism and racism.
Throughout his political life, Canavan played a leading part in thecampaign for a Scottish Parliament. When Labour was in opposition underJames Callaghan,Michael Foot,Neil Kinnock,John Smith andTony Blair, he led a nationwide consultation aboutdevolution, on behalf of theScottish Group of Labour MPs, leading to the publication of abill to establish a Scottish Parliament with revenue-raising powers. However, in 1999, when thefirst elections to the Scottish Parliament were held, theNew Labour leadership rejected him as an official Labour candidate, despite the fact that he had the support of 97% oflocal party members. He therefore stood as anIndependent, and was consequently expelled from the party.[3] Although there were rumours he would join theScottish National Party, he did not join another party. He won with almost 55 percent of the vote, the highest majority of any MSP in the1999 election.[4][5] He resigned his Westminster seat in 2000 to concentrate on representing his constituents in the Scottish Parliament. Canavan retained hisHolyrood seat in 2003 with 55.7 percent of the vote, again with the biggest majority in Scotland.
In the Scottish Parliament, he was a member of the European and External Relations Committee and Convener of the All-Party Sports Group from 1999.[6][7]In 2003 he criticised theScottish football authorities whenFalkirk Football Club was refused promotion to theScottish Premier League, despite having won the First Division Championship. He supported Falkirk's efforts to build a new stadium for community use and he still regularly attends the club's matches. He is also Honorary President of Milton Amateurs Football Club.
Canavan enjoys hill-walking and, in the Scottish Parliament, he championed the people's right of access to the countryside, successfully introducing amendments to theLand Reform (Scotland) Bill to extend the right of access to country estates, including land belonging to the Queen. He is now President ofRamblers Scotland.
He is a strong supporter of the idea of anational holiday to celebrateSt Andrew's Day,[8] and his bill to achieve this was eventually passed as theSt. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007.[9]
When he announced his retirement before the2007 Scottish Parliament elections,[10] he was the longest serving parliamentarian in the Scottish Parliament, having completed a combined 33 years at Westminster and Holyrood. After this announcement he received an ovation in theChamber of the Scottish Parliament from other MSPs and was praised by theFirst MinisterJack McConnell as "an outstanding parliamentarian over a long, long period of time".[11]
In April 2010, Canavan declared his support forJohn McNally, theScottish National Party candidate forFalkirk in the2010 general election. Falkirk is the successor to Canavan's former Westminster constituency.[12]
Canavan has been a member of the board of trustees of theNational Mining Museum Scotland.[13] He has been a patron of Bonnybridge Driving Force, a charity involved with the organisation of volunteer drivers transporting patients to and from hospital.[14]
In 2018, the Scottish Government commissioned an independent review into the impact of policing on communities during the miners strike and Canvan was appointed a member of the advisory panel.[15][16]
He hashonorary doctorates from the Universities ofStirling[17] andStrathclyde.
In recognition of his public service,Falkirk Council launched the Dennis Canavan Scholarship to encourage young people to go on to further or higher education and to use their talents to help others.[18]
Canavan's marriage to Elnor Canavan ended in divorce. They had four children, all of whom predeceased him; he also has a son with his partner.[19][20]
He is arepublican.[21]
His autobiography,Let the People Decide, was published byBirlinn in September 2009. (ISBN 978-1-84158839-1)[22]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWest Stirlingshire 1974–1983 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forFalkirk West 1983–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Scottish Parliament | ||
| New constituency | Member of the Scottish Parliament forFalkirk West 1999–2007 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
