Gordon Murray (politician)

Gordon Stewart Murray (1927 – 1 February 2015) was a Scottish nationalist politician.

Education

Gordon Murray studied at Aberdeen Grammar School before becoming a civil engineer and also maintaining a croft.[1] He joined the Scottish National Party at the age of 15,[2] and was elected to Dumbarton County Council in 1967.[3] He subsequently served on Cumbernauld Burgh Council, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District Council, Strathclyde Regional Council and, lastly, North Lanarkshire Council. For much of this time, he served as Provost of Cumbernauld.[3]

Career

He stood in East Dunbartonshire at the 1970 general election, taking 11% of the vote, then in East Kilbride in October 1974, where he came a close second with 37%. He stood again in 1979, then in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth in 1983, but never won a seat.[4][5]

In 2003, Murray left the SNP group on the council, along with his wife, Margaret, in protest at Andrew Wilson being placed well down the party's list for Central Scotland, and their belief that the SNP group on the council paid insufficient attention to Cumbernauld.[2] They subsequently formed the Cumbernauld Independent Councillors Association, which he represented until 2012, when he retired due to ill health.[6]

References
  1. The Times Guide to the House of Commons (1983), p.88
  2. Brian Yule, "SNP couple rock their party", Cumbernauld News, 14 May 2003
  3. Scott Campbell, "Tributes to Cumbernauld’s former provost Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine", Cumbernauld Media, 4 February 2015
  4. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1950–1973 (2 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-07-8
  5. Craig, F. W. S. (1984). British parliamentary election results, 1974–1983. Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-23-X
  6. "Veteran councillor Gordon Murray set to stand down", Cumbernauld News, 10 February 2012
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