Meeting of the Parliament 03 February 2026 [Draft]
Jim Wallace may not have designed the Scottish Parliament building in which we meet today, but we can say with absolute certainty that Jim Wallace was an architect of the Scottish Parliament.
Jim was a lifelong adherent of the Liberal tradition in Scotland. Although he led the Scottish Liberal Democrats, he first joined the Scottish Liberal Party, which emerged from a radical tradition of politics in our country, with a commitment in its foundations to home rule for Scotland. Consistent political support for the concept of Scottish self-government, pressure to establish a Scottish Parliament and the hard work to turn it into practice through the work of the consultative steering group were all part of the contribution that was made by Jim Wallace.
Jim was first elected to the United Kingdom Parliament in 1983, as MP for Orkney and Shetland. He followed in the footsteps of another great Liberal, Jo Grimond, and had to compete for his seat with the formidable champion of my party, Winnie Ewing. He held that seat for nearly two decades, and was always a tireless champion for island communities.
I got to know Jim well when I joined him in the House of Commons in 1997. I watched, with respect and admiration, a formidable parliamentarian—from whom I learned a great deal about how to be a parliamentarian—lead the arguments for the Liberal Democrats during the debates on the referendum legislation in 1997, and then the passage of what became the Scotland Act 1998, which paved the way for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.
It was little surprise that, in 1999, Jim opted to stand for Holyrood, for Orkney, the island archipelago where he lived and which he loved. Jim ushered the Liberal Democrats into government in 1999—the first time that Liberals had been in government in the United Kingdom since 1922—and assumed the role of Scotland’s first Deputy First Minister, a role in which he served from 1999 to 2005. He served also as Minister for Justice and later as Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.
In that role, in 2004, Jim attended the United Nations to hear its secretary general, Kofi Annan, deliver the inaugural Robert Burns memorial lecture, on the theme of the state of the world and the brotherhood of man, calling for tolerance and coexistence among all peoples. I cannot be alone in thinking that those were themes that Jim Wallace championed throughout his political career and of which we could do with a great deal more in the world today.
As Deputy First Minister, Jim became acting First Minister three times, stepping in first when Donald Dewar became ill, and a second time upon his untimely death. Jim stepped in again following Henry McLeish’s resignation. In doing so, he provided stability and a steady hand in times of unexpected upheaval. More than that, in this Parliament’s early years, when it was yet to prove itself in the eyes of many Scots, Jim sought to ensure that it delivered what the people had voted for in 1997—a Parliament that worked together, across parties, to get things done and to improve life for all Scots.
In 2007, he became Baron Wallace of Tankerness and a member of the Calman commission on devolution, which recommended extending the powers of this Parliament. When the Liberal Democrats became part of the United Kingdom Government in 2010, Jim found himself back on the front line, serving for five years as Advocate General for Scotland. It was in that role that he brought forward the idea of using a section 30 order to give the Scottish Parliament the power to hold an independence referendum—a visionary move, in my eyes.
In all those roles, Jim offered an exemplary example of public service, but he still had more to give. In 2021, he was delighted, but also pretty daunted, to become the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland—one of only two elders since the reformation to hold that post. That was during Covid, and Jim—supported, as always, by Rosie—found a way of reaching people in those difficult days, supporting them and reassuring them that more hopeful days lay ahead. That was a year of great fulfilment for Jim, when he could share with others his deep Christian faith and how his faith had made him who he was, in a way that is often more difficult to do in politics. As moderator, he reached across the aisle, helping to bring the Church of Scotland into greater collaboration with the Episcopal and Catholic churches.
Throughout his life, Jim practised politics the way that politics ought to be practised—with passionate but respectful debate, with genuine collaboration and, above all, with the utmost compassion and devotion to those he served. That was the type of person he was—selfless and principled, a man of integrity, a man of decency.
Jim and I were clearly from different political traditions. We believed in different things and in different destinations for our country, but none of those differences stopped us respecting each other’s contribution to our country’s politics—never doubting each other’s motives and always maintaining personal courtesy towards each other. At joyful moments in my life and at incredibly tough moments in my life, I would receive kindness from Jim Wallace, as did so many others.
When I became Deputy First Minister in 2014, Jim wrote to wish me well, as he put it, from one Deputy First Minister to another. He encouraged me to enjoy the role, especially the fun that was to be had when I stood in for the First Minister at First Minister’s question time with, as he put it to me, all of the opportunity and none of the responsibility.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, I had the great privilege to welcome Jim and Rosie to Bute house in your presence, Presiding Officer. I felt that it was important that we marked a milestone in the life of our Parliament. One of its key founders should be welcomed to Bute house to acknowledge the significance of the occasion. It was so appropriate that both Jim and Rosie were there, so that I could acknowledge, on behalf of the whole country, the outstanding service that they have given to Scotland.
The last time that I questioned Jim in his capacity as acting First Minister, on 22 November 2001, it was at the end of a period of Labour political chaos. Generously, I said:
“Mr Wallace will not be here to answer questions next week, but I am sure that he will have to come back to rescue the Labour Administration when it implodes. Does he agree that it is not appropriate today for us to say goodbye, but that we should say merely, ‘Au revoir’?”
There is genuine and heartfelt sadness on my part today that we are here to say goodbye and not “au revoir” to Jim Wallace. He has been taken from us all far too soon. I have to give the last word of our exchange in 2001 to Jim. In reply to my impertinent question, the acting First Minister of the day said:
“On Mr Swinney’s final point, I say only this: when the history books are written it will be found that I might not have discharged the duties of First Minister for as long as other people did, but I probably did it more often.”—[Official Report, 22 November 2001; c 4119, 4120.]
It was a typical Jim Wallace quip, but he was right about his place in the history of Scotland’s story.
I end by expressing my own personal deepest sympathies and those of the Scottish Government and the people of Scotland to Jim’s wife Rosie, his mother Grace, his daughters Helen and Clare, his brother Neil and his grandchildren. They have all lost a dear loved one, and Scotland has lost one of her finest sons.
I move,
That the Parliament expresses its sadness at the sudden death of Lord Jim Wallace; appreciates his many years of outstanding public service and the high regard in which he was held as a Queen’s Counsel, MP for Shetland and Orkney and the first ever MSP for Orkney, his seven years as the first Deputy First Minister of Scotland, and latterly as member of the House of Lords; acknowledges his long service to the Church of Scotland as an elder at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall and as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2021 to 2022, and expresses deepest condolences to his wife, family and many friends.