Alex Eadie
| Alexander Mark Hughes Eadie | |
|---|---|
| Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Midlothian |
|
|
In office 31 March 1966 – 9 April 1992 |
|
| Preceded by | James Hill |
| Succeeded by | Eric Clarke |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
23 June 1920 Buckhaven, Fife, Scotland |
| Died | 26 January 2012 (aged 91) East Wemyss, Fife |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Political party | Scottish Labour Party |
| Spouse(s) | Jemima Ritchie (1941–1981) Her death Janice Murdoch (1983–2012) His death |
| Relations | Helen Eadie (Daughter in Law) |
| Children | Bob Eadie |
| Occupation | Coal Miner, Union Executive |
Alexander Mark Hughes Eadie (23 June 1920 – 26 January 2012), known as Alex Eadie, was a Scottish Labour politician.
Born in Buckhaven, Fife, he was the son of a coal miner, who was later killed in a pit accident. Educated at Buckhaven Senior Secondary School, he left school aged 14 to work part-time at Lochhead Colliery, while he trained as a mining engineer.
Eadie stood for the Scottish presidency of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1961 against Alex Moffat, brother of the outgoing president Abe Moffat. Media commentators gave him little chance as a Fabian Society member in a union executive dominated by communists, but he came within 3,000 votes of victory. He was subsequently in 1965 elected to the Scottish NUM executive, representative for the county of Clackmannanshire.
Eadie joined the Scottish Labour Party in 1943, and was elected Scottish president of the Young Co-Operators in 1945. He later served as a member of the SLP Executive.
He was a councillor on Fife County Council for 20 years, chairing the housing and education committees.
Eadie contested Ayr in 1959 and 1964, losing the second time to George Younger.
In 1966 a vacancy arose in the mining constituency of Midlothian. Elected Member of Parliament in the 1966 general election with a majority of over 14,416, he warned in his maiden speech at the Palace of Westminster against closing the pits. His seat remained safe until his retirement in 1992, the only scare coming in 1974 when the Scottish National Party reduced his majority to just over 4,000.
...
Wikipedia