SNP ‘leaked Margo illness to halt her election campaign’
THE widower of Scottish politician Margo MacDonald has accused a senior figure in the SNP of leaking her Parkinson’s diagnosis in an attempt to ‘sink her campaign’ for Holyrood.
Jim Sillars claims the person responsible – still in the Cabinet today – robbed the couple of breaking the devastating news to their grandchildren, with one being told in the playground by another pupil: ‘Your granny’s going to die.’
A former deputy leader of the party, Mr Sillars, 83, points the finger of blame in a new book, claiming the SNP’s decision to go public with the news of her illness in 2002 was a deliberate ploy to prevent Ms MacDonald’s re-election as an independent MSP after being expelled by the Nationalists following political differences.
In the end, Ms MacDonald, who died in 2014 aged 70, secured her place in the parliament, describing those in the SNP who tried to harm her chances as ‘dark forces in the party’.
But last night, her husband of 33 years went further, revealing for the first time that the couple knew ‘from friends within the SNP’ exactly who had leaked her illness and why.
Declining to name the individual, he confirmed that the MSP is still in the higher echelons of the party, adding pointedly: ‘It’s not Nicola Sturgeon.’
In his autobiography, A Difference of Opinion, he details his wife’s strained relationship with the SNP high command under Alex Salmond and then leader John Swinney.
He wrote: ‘When Margo was diagnosed, we decided that she should say nothing in public about her condition as she was fully functional.
‘We also thought it would be better to take our time and tell our grandchildren when they were a bit older and more able to understand why Grandma’s hand was shaking a bit and why she could be slow in doing some things. We were denied that important privacy by the SNP’s tactic.
‘Margo was perfectly able to continue as an MSP. But now she was outside the SNP tent, the leadership thought it would be a good idea to sink her candidacy.’
Outspoken Ms MacDonald, also a former SNP deputy leader, had a long and chequered history with the party, having won the 1973 Govan by-election only to later quit after being part of the 79 Group, which included Mr Salmond and Kenny MacAskill.
She married Mr Sillars in 1981, regained her SNP membership in the early 1990s and became an MSP in 1999 after topping the Lothians regional list. But ahead of the 2003 election, she was placed fifth on the list, effectively ending her chances of being re-elected.
She stood instead as an independent – leading to her expulsion from the SNP and the leak about her illness – and was returned three times.
Mr Sillars said: ‘There are red lines that senior politicians should not cross and they had no hesitation in crossing them for what they regarded as a political purpose, to prevent Margo from entering Holyrood.
‘Margo knew fine who had leaked. She was quite blunt about who did it and who was responsible for trying to take her down the list.
‘Margo had friends inside the SNP who were great sources of information for her.
‘The party didn’t think Margo could get elected on her own. But she was of such a stature in Scottish politics I could not conceive of her being defeated as an independent.’
The SNP has denied leaking the diagnosis. Responding to Ms MacDonald’s claims at the time, it said it was unaware of her medical condition.
In the book, Mr Sillars says the SNP has paid a heavy price for being ‘in the grip of two personality cults’ for 30 years, first under Mr Salmond and now Ms Sturgeon, describing her as ‘a one-person government’.
‘Denied privacy by the party’s tactics’