Dennis Canavan

Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire from 1974 to 1983), first as a member of the Labour Party, and then as an independent. He then served as an independent member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Falkirk West from 1999 to 2007.

In 2014, he was the chair of the Advisory Board of Yes Scotland, the campaign for independence in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Born in Cowdenbeath, Canavan was educated at St. Bride's and St. Columba's Schools, Cowdenbeath, St Andrew's College, Drygrange, and at the University of Edinburgh. He worked as a schoolteacher from 1968 until 1974 and was Assistant Head of Holy Rood High School Edinburgh at the time of his first election to Parliament. Canavan was also head of the maths department at St Modans High in Stirling.

He was leader of the Labour Party Group on Stirling District Council in 1974 and, in October of that year, was elected as Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for West Stirlingshire. Following boundary changes, he was MP for Falkirk West from 1983 to 2000. He was Chair of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Group from 1980 to 1981. In 1975, he tried introducing a bill to abolish corporal punishment in schools and his efforts formed part of the case presented to the European Commission of Human Rights which led eventually to abolition. He voted against the Blair Government's proposals to cut benefits for children of lone parents, abolish student grants and introduce tuition fees.

A keen sports enthusiast, he was founder and Convener of the Scottish Sports Group at Westminster and the Cross-Party Sports Group in the Scottish Parliament. He has completed a marathon in less than three hours and the Ben Nevis Race in just over two hours. He won a gold medal, playing for Scotland in the British Universities Football Championships in 1967. In his book The Final Whistle?, Harry Reid claims that Canavan took part in the 1977 Wembley pitch invasion after Scotland beat England and ripped up a patch of the turf.

He takes an active interest in international affairs and served as a member of the House of Commons select committees on Foreign Affairs and International Development. He is still a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Amnesty International and is interested in conflict resolution.

He chaired the Northern Ireland Committee of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, and led several parliamentary delegations to Ireland during The Troubles. He served on the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body from 1992 to 2000. As a member of the European and External Relations Committee of the Scottish Parliament, he was author of a report on the potential for co-operation between Scotland and Ireland. He has frequently spoken out against sectarianism and racism.

Throughout his political life, Canavan played a leading part in the campaign for a Scottish Parliament. When Labour was in opposition under James Callaghan, Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair, he led a nationwide consultation about devolution, on behalf of the Scottish Group of Labour MPs, leading to the publication of a bill to establish a Scottish Parliament with revenue-raising powers. However, in 1999, when the first elections to the Scottish Parliament were held, the New Labour leadership rejected him as an official Labour candidate, despite the fact that he had the support of 97% of local party members. He therefore stood as an Independent, and was consequently expelled from the party. Although there were rumours he would join the Scottish National Party, he did not join another party. He won with almost 55 percent of the vote, the highest majority of any MSP in the 1999 election. He resigned his Westminster seat in 2000 to concentrate on representing his constituents in the Scottish Parliament. Canavan retained his Holyrood seat in 2003 with 55.7 percent of the vote, again with the biggest majority in Scotland.