Jim Sillars facts for kids

James Sillars (born 4 October 1937) is a Scottish politician. He has worked to make Scotland independent.

Jim Sillars was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour Party. He represented South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976. Later, he started a new group called the Scottish Labour Party in 1976. This group wanted Scotland to have more control over its own laws. He stayed an MP until 1979.

In 1980, Sillars joined the Scottish National Party (SNP). He became an MP again for Glasgow Govan in 1988. He also served as the Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party. He was married to Margo MacDonald, who was also a well-known politician, until she passed away in 2014.

Early Life and Work

Jim Sillars was born in Ayr, Scotland, on October 4, 1937. His father worked on the railway, and his mother was a carpet weaver. He went to Newton Park School and Ayr Academy.

After school, he first worked as an apprentice plasterer. Then, he followed his father and worked on the railways. From 1956 to 1960, Sillars was a radio operator in the Royal Navy. After that, he became a firefighter.

Being a firefighter made him more interested in politics. He joined the Labour Party in 1960. He was also a member of the Ayr Town Council from 1962 to 1970.

Political Journey

Joining the Labour Party

In 1970, Jim Sillars became a Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ayrshire. He was part of the Labour Party. At first, he was against Scotland having its own parliament. He even wrote a paper arguing against it.

But over time, he changed his mind. He started to believe that Scotland should have its own Scottish Assembly. This assembly would help make laws for Scotland.

Starting a New Party

In 1976, Jim Sillars left the Labour Party. He started a new group called the Scottish Labour Party (SLP). He did this because the Labour government at the time did not create a strong Scottish Assembly.

Sillars worked hard to make the SLP a strong political group. However, the party did not do well in the 1979 election. After this, the SLP eventually closed down.

Joining the Scottish National Party

In the early 1980s, Sillars joined the Scottish National Party (SNP). Many other former SLP members joined too. He helped to make the SNP a party that focused on left-wing ideas.

The SNP started to support ideas like not paying the poll tax. This tax was introduced by the Conservative government. They also supported the idea of Scotland being independent while staying in the European Union. Sillars was a big supporter of this idea.

In 1988, Sillars became the SNP candidate for a special election in Glasgow Govan. Even though it was usually a Labour area, Sillars won the election. This was a big surprise!

In 1991, Sillars was chosen as the SNP's Deputy Leader. However, in the 1992 election, he lost his Glasgow Govan seat. After this, he made a famous comment about "ninety-minute patriots." He meant people who only cared about Scotland during big sports events. This comment caused some disagreements with the SNP leadership.

Views on the Scottish Parliament

Unlike his wife, Jim Sillars did not support the plan for a Scottish Parliament in 1997. He thought it was not a real step towards full independence for Scotland. He believed that not voting was the best way to show his disapproval.

In 2004, Sillars said that the SNP made a mistake by accepting the idea of a Scottish Parliament. He felt that having a Scottish Parliament made Scottish politics less important. He said it made people pay less attention to Scottish MPs in the UK Parliament.

In 2019, he still felt that his view was correct. He said that the Scottish Parliament, also known as Holyrood, had made politics in Scotland less broad. He felt that politicians there focused on smaller issues instead of bigger ones.

In 2022, it was revealed that Sillars had given money to a Labour politician, Jackie Baillie. He said he did this because she was a very skilled person. He wanted her to stay in the Scottish Parliament. Some people in the SNP thought this showed he was not fully supporting independence.

Views on the European Union

In 2016, Jim Sillars said he would campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. This was different from the SNP's view. He believed the EU was not democratic. He also thought it was unfair to some countries like Portugal, Spain, and Greece.

Before the EU referendum, Sillars disagreed with Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader. She said leaving the EU would be bad for Scotland. Sillars said she was trying to scare people. He also said that the UK would still be able to trade with EU countries even if it left.

Views on Scottish Independence

In 2014, Sillars wrote a book called In Place of Fear II. In this book, he shared his ideas for an independent Scotland. During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he said that an independent Scotland would have more control over its oil.

In 2022, Sillars said it was not a good time to talk about another independence vote. He felt that the main goal should be to get more people to support independence first. He believed a vote should only happen when there was a very strong chance of winning.

In July 2023, he repeated that independence supporters were "in no position to win" a new vote. He also supported the idea of one big group working for independence, not linked to any single political party.

Joining the Alba Party

On March 26, 2021, Sillars supported Alex Salmond's new Alba Party. He said it was good because it gave independence supporters another choice besides the SNP. He felt the SNP had problems with how it managed things.

He is still a member of the SNP. However, he has said he has not voted for them in a long time. He hopes that the SNP will get a new leader. He wants the SNP and Alba Party to work together for independence.

After the 2024 UK election, Sillars said that John Swinney's leadership was not working well. He also made strong comments about Nicola Sturgeon.