Party bids farewell to Jamie
THEY were singing the blues in Inveraray last Saturday as local Conservatives gathered to pay tribute to Sir Jamie McGrigor.
Party members from all parts of the Argyll and Bute constituency converged on the Loch Fyne Hotel to mark the retirement of this popular figure from frontline politics and as a Highlands and Islands MSP.
Deputy chairman of the Argyll and Bute Scottish Conservatives Sandy MacPherson said: ‘ This is a lunch in honour of Sir Jamie to thank him for his years of service and to mark his retirement. We have got the most tremendous respect for him and he has an excellent reputation across all the parties in the Scottish Parliament.
‘He has been an assiduous MSP and has developed very effective working relationships with groups such as the crofting and fishing communities, so he will be badly missed.’
Sir Jamie joked that he stood aside ‘to make way for youth and beauty’. He added: ‘I have done 17 years and four parliaments, and it has been a great privilege and joy for me.’
Asked what he felt his most memorable achievement has been, he replied: ‘It has to be having four children with my wife during that time. Each was a memorable occasion.
‘Otherwise, I was very happy to see my Tartan Bill go through, creating a register of tartan in Scotland. I also remember the constituency cases – the ones where I managed to make a dif- ference to individual people, from the Western Isles to Argyll. I think that’s really what an MSP is meant to do.’
He paid tribute to Emma, his wife, and added: ‘My family has been amazing. In many ways I’m amazed I’m still married, with all the pressures of balancing family and political life. I take my hat off to Emma.’
Jamie has six children – Daisy, nine, Rosie, 13, Violet, 14, Alexander, 17, Sarah, 27, and Sybilla, 28 – and said: ‘I’m very proud of all of them.’
Looking ahead, he revealed that he has his eye on a potential new job. ‘At the moment I’m relaxing. I’ll certainly keep an eye on politics and will look out for interesting jobs. I’ve been asked to join an international board in Paris looking into cyber bullying.
Mr MacPherson would like to see the former MSP carry on in public life. He said: ‘We fervently hope the party will find an outlet to allow him to continue to contribute politically, because he has huge experience and knowledge. Sir Jamie has done a great job. He’ll be sadly missed.’
Sir Jamie said: ‘It’s marvellous that we now have Donald Cameron of Lochiel, who got in as a list MSP and will be spending a lot of time in Argyll. I hope Lochiel will continue to raise the standards, so to speak.’