Ex-Tory minister Lord James Douglas-Hamilton dies aged 81

Lord James served under two prime ministers

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, who served as a Scottish Office minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, has died at the age of 81.

The second son of the 14th Duke of Hamilton, Lord James was MP for Edinburgh West from 1974 to 1997 and a list MSP for the Lothians from 1999 to 2005.

He gave up an inherited earldom in 1994 in order to keep voting in the Commons.

Lord James also sat in the House of Lords from 1997 as a life peer.

Latterly known as Baron Selkirk, he was brought up at Lennoxlove House in East Lothian and educated at Eton and the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh.

He worked as an advocate and depute procurator fiscal and was a councillor on the old Edinburgh District Council from 1972 to 1974.

He entered parliament in October 1974, the same year in which he married Susan Buchan, a granddaughter of the novelist John Buchan. They had four sons.

Lord James served as a parliamentary under-secretary of state and a minister of state until he lost his seat to the Liberal Democrat Donald Gorrie in the 1997 general election which saw the Conservatives wiped out north of the border.

Mention the name Lord James Douglas-Hamilton to anyone who's been around Scottish politics for a while and they'll tell you a story.

It might be the one about how he used to leap out of the back seat of the government car to open the door for its female driver.

Or the tale about how he was taken on a tour of the Dungavel immigration detention centre when he had responsibility for home affairs, but didn't let on it had been his childhood home.

Or perhaps the story of his panic at seeing a post-it note saying "please re-sign" on some documents, and not noticing the hyphen, wondered what he'd done to justify having to quit.

My own personal favourite dates from 1999, when two newly sworn-in immaculately dressed MSPs chatted together as they walked back towards their offices.

The men in question were the Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan and the Conservative peer Lord James Douglas-Hamilton. It seemed to be a symbol of the new devolution era politics but it perhaps just reflected the fact that everyone liked Lord James.

During the Thatcher and Major years, Lord James was the longest continuously serving minister at the Scottish Office since World War Two, with responsibilities for health, education, housing, local government, environment, finance and home affairs over a 10-year period.

He sat in both the Lords and Scottish Parliament from 1999 until 2005. In 2012 he was appointed Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the monarch's personal representative to the assembly.

In his memoirs, published in 2009, he revealed he had been a page at the Queen's coronation in 1953 and President Kennedy's famous 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech at the Berlin Wall in 1963.

Lord James also wrote a book about why Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, flew to Scotland in 1941 to meet his father, the 14th Duke of Hamilton. Hess had mistakenly believed the Duke would be willing and able to negotiate Britain's surrender to the Nazis.

His son Jamie Douglas-Hamilton is an adventurer who was part of a team which attempted to row from King George Island to South Georgia in the Southern Ocean earlier in 2023.

Tributes to 'a true gentleman'

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he was "extremely sorry" to hear the news.

He added: "As well as being an extremely distinguished politician at both Westminster and Holyrood, he was a true gentleman whose popularity crossed all political divides.

"His career in local government, Holyrood and Westminster was distinguished by the courtesy and respect he showed to everyone.

"In 1999, the newly-created Scottish Parliament benefited from the wisdom and gravitas Lord James brought to proceedings, and which was honed during his 23 years as a highly-effective MP and latterly government minister.

"I had the pleasure of meeting him when we were both in Westminster and his passion and interest in Scottish politics never waned. He will be sadly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him."

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: "He made a lifelong contribution to British political life, serving as a councillor, MSP, MP, Scotland Office Minister and in the House of Lords.

"An effective, astute and wise politician, he was widely admired across the political spectrum and all who knew him quickly learned he was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.

"The Conservative Party and Scotland more widely have lost an important figure and my thoughts are with his family and friends."

'Kind and considerate'

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, the former Scottish Conservative leader Baroness Davidson said: "As well as unstinting service to politics, public service and our party, Lord James added a heap of personality too.

"Kind, witty and a gentleman. A wise head, he was hugely supportive to generations of young Turks coming up through the ranks".

SNP President Michael Russell described him as a "kind and considerate man" who gave his life to public service.

He said: "I had the privilege to serve alongside Lord James on the first bureau of the Scottish Parliament.

"His originality was memorable and I was lucky to travel abroad with him on delegations on two occasions when I greatly enjoyed his company at formal and informal occasions.

"He will be much missed across the parties, a rare thing which speaks volumes about his unique blend of charm, wit and political ability."