25 Facts About Jim Sillars

James Sillars was born on 4 October 1937 and is a Scottish politician and campaigner for Scottish independence.

Jim Sillars served as a Labour Party MP for South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976.

Jim Sillars founded and led the pro-Scottish Home Rule Scottish Labour Party in 1976, continuing as MP for South Ayrshire until he lost the seat in 1979.

Jim Sillars joined the Scottish National Party in 1980 and later served as MP for Glasgow Govan after winning a by-election in 1988, and was Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party.

Jim Sillars was married to Margo MacDonald until her death in 2014.

Jim Sillars was born in Ayr, the son of Matthew, a railwayman, and Agnes Jim Sillars, a carpet weaver.

Jim Sillars was educated at Newton Park School and Ayr Academy.

Jim Sillars served as a radio operator in the Royal Navy from 1956 to 1960, before becoming a firefighter.

Jim Sillars served as a member of Ayr Town Council from 1962 to 1970, and was Head of Organisation and Social Services at the Scottish Trades Union Congress from 1968 to 1970.

Jim Sillars was elected at a by-election in 1970 as the Labour Party Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire, quickly establishing a reputation as an articulate, intellectual left-winger.

However, following the strong showing by the SNP at the 1971 Stirling and Falkirk by-election, Jim Sillars began to rethink his ideals: together with the by-election victor Harry Ewing and Alex Eadie, he eventually came out in favour of the establishment of a devolved Scottish Assembly.

In 1976 Jim Sillars led a breakaway Scottish Labour Party.

Jim Sillars threw himself into establishing the SLP as a political force, but ultimately it collapsed following the 1979 general election.

Only Jim Sillars came remotely close to winning and it was this failure to secure a meaningful share of the vote that prompted the decision to disband nearly two years later.

Policies adopted included the support of a non-payment scheme in relation to the poll tax introduced by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, as well as the policy of independence within the European Union, of which Jim Sillars was a leading exponent.

Jim Sillars started talking in terms of direct action to bring prominence to the Scottish independence cause, stating that: "we must be prepared to hear the sound of cell doors crashing behind us if we are prepared to win independence".

Govan was a Labour seat, but Jim Sillars won a dramatic victory over Labour's Bob Gillespie.

At the 1991 party conference, Jim Sillars was elected the SNP's Depute Leader, beating Alasdair Morgan by 279 votes to 184.

Unlike his wife, Jim Sillars called for abstention on the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum, He accused Salmond of having no strategy for full independence and claimed the referendum was a fraud as "the SNP says it is a stepping stone to independence and Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar insists it will strengthen the Union", adding "Abstention is the best form of contempt".

The alternative that Jim Sillars seems to support is the politics of despair.

In June 2004, Jim Sillars called for the resignation of John Swinney as SNP leader and claimed that the party's acceptance of devolution had been a tactical blunder.

Jim Sillars dismissed SNP MP Joanna Cherry's suggestion that the UK would no longer have access to trading with the EU's free market.

In March 2022, Jim Sillars claimed that it was "foolish" to talk about another independence referendum whilst the Russo-Ukrainian War was going on.

Jim Sillars told an Alba Party meeting in July 2023 that Scottish independence supporters were "in no position to win" in proposed second referendum.

Jim Sillars backed the creation of a single pro-independence organisation, which was unaffiliated to any party, to campaign for Scottish independence.