24 Facts About Winnie Ewing

Winnie Ewing was a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Highlands and Islands from 1999 to 2003 and a Member of the European Parliament for the equivalent seat from 1979 to 1999.

Winnie Ewing was a member of the British House of Commons for Hamilton from a 1967 by-election until 1970, and for Moray and Nairn from 1974 to 1979.

Winnie Ewing was elected to the House of Commons in the 1967 Hamilton by-election and her presence at Westminster led to a rise in membership for the SNP, from her quote; "stop the world, Scotland wants to get on".

Winnie Ewing lost her seat in the 1979 election and, after making numerous attempts to seek re-election, she failed to do so.

Winnie Ewing was elected to the European Parliament in the 1979 elections, representing the Highlands and Islands.

Winnie Ewing served as Vice President of the European Radical Alliance and by 1995 had become Britain's longest serving MEP.

Winnie Ewing was born in July 1929 in Glasgow to Christina Bell Anderson and George Woodburn, a small business owner.

Winnie Ewing was educated at Battlefield School and Queen's Park Secondary School.

Winnie Ewing was Secretary of the Glasgow Bar Association from 1962 to 1967.

Winnie Ewing became active in campaigning for Scottish independence through her membership of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association, and won the 1967 Hamilton by-election as the Scottish National Party candidate.

Winnie Ewing was elected with the help of a team including her election agent, John McAteer.

Winnie Ewing arrived at the parliament in a Scottish-built Hillman Imp and was greeted by a crowd and a pipe band.

Winnie Ewing said at the time "stop the world, Scotland wants to get on", and her presence at Westminster led to a rise in membership for the SNP.

Winnie Ewing first became an MEP in 1975, at a time when the European Parliament was still composed of representative delegations from national parliaments.

Winnie Ewing lost her Westminster seat at the May 1979 election, but within weeks had gained a seat in the European Parliament at the first direct elections to the Parliament.

Winnie Ewing was unsuccessful at seeking to return to Westminster as the SNP candidate for Orkney and Shetland in 1983, coming third.

Winnie Ewing was elected the SNP Party President in 1987.

That sobriquet was first used by Le Monde and with Winnie Ewing using the term as a badge of pride, it stuck.

Winnie Ewing had been a former Vice President of the European Radical Alliance which included French, Guyanese, Flemish, Luxembourg, Italian, Corsican and Spanish MEPs.

Winnie Ewing sat as a member on the European Committee, then the Public Petitions Committee.

In January 2003, her husband, Stewart Winnie Ewing, died in a fire accident.

Winnie Ewing's son Fergus Ewing serves as SNP MSP, as did his wife Margaret Ewing, and her daughter Annabelle Ewing, who was an MP between 2001 and 2005.

Winnie Ewing is a vice president of equal rights charity Parity.

Winnie Ewing was conferred with honorary LLD degrees from the University of Glasgow in 1995 and University of Aberdeen in 2004, Winnie Ewing was conferred with Doctor of the University degrees from the Open University in 1993 and University of Stirling in 2012.