Donald Gorrie

Donald Gorrie, who has died aged 79, rose to prominence as an elected politician as Scotland entered a modern devolutionary age, but his values, and it has to be said style, owed more to another, more old-fashioned political era. Of the Establishment, he was also opposed to privilege. "I am anti-Establishment," he once declared. "They need a frequent kick up the rear and I enjoy doing that."

Donald Cameron Easterbrook Gorrie was born in India. He and his family moved to Edinburgh when Donald was six, although he was educated at Hurst Grange, Stirling, and then Oundle school in Peterborough before reading history at Corpus Christi College. A talented athlete, in 1955 he was Scottish champion in the race over 880 yards and won a silver medal at the World Student Games.

Upon graduation Mr Gorrie became a schoolmaster, first at Gordonstoun School in the late 1950s, and then at Marlborough College (where he delighted in wearing brightly coloured shirts) for another six years. At Marlborough, he was Mark Phillips's athletics master and made such an impression that he and his wife Astrid (from the Salveson shipping family) were guests when Mr Phillips married Princess Anne in 1973.

Mr Gorrie also contested his first election in Marlborough, for its town council, although he was unsuccessful. Then, in the late 1960s, he quit teaching and returned to Scotland to pursue a political career in the Scottish Liberal Party. He was director of research and administration for seven years and even challenged – unsuccessfully – the MP Russell Johnston as Scottish Liberal leader in 1975.

In 1971 he won a place on the old Edinburgh Corporation representing Corstorphine (beating the ex-Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper Ronnie Simpson in a by-election), which he held following several local government reorganisations. Concurrently, he challenged the incumbent Conservative MP James Douglas-Hamilton four times before winning in 1997 with a majority of 7253 – the first Liberal or Liberal Democrat to represent Edinburgh since the Second World War.

But having fought so long for a place in Parliament, he did not take to the House of Commons, which he considered "an awful place". And since it was clear the Labour Government intended to create a devolved Scottish Parliament as soon as possible, Mr Gorrie announced within 48 hours of his election that he planned to quit Westminster after just one term. This put activists' noses out of joint, so that when it came to selection for Edinburgh West in the new Parliament, Mr Gorrie eventually lost out to Margaret Smith.

During two full years as an MP, Mr Gorrie was Liberal Democrat spokesman on education, youth, housing, local government and sports as well as a deputy whip. In Scotland, meanwhile, he eventually secured a route into the new Scottish Parliament via top ranking on the Liberal Democrat party regional list for Central Scotland.

He established his "awkward squad" credentials from the first, opposing the coalition deal between his party and Labour (which he always mistrusted) and generally staking out territory on the radical left of the Liberal Democrats. This not only annoyed his party's more cautious leadership, but meant Mr Gorrie was unwhippable, someone who would make up their own minds on each issue.

He was once described by a close colleague as "not the most loveable man in the world" but this was matched by warmth and genuine commitment to good causes.

On some matters he was prescient. Along with the (later) Independent MSP Margo MacDonald, he was one of the first to identify the Holyrood building project as an issue worthy of detailed and sustained scrutiny, while on sectarianism – now a mainstream Scottish political issue – Mr Gorrie pushed the Scottish Executive early on to tackle what he saw as a debilitating problem. He also conceived, in 2003, of what eventually became the Year of Homecoming.

But he disliked his classification as a "rebel", reasoning that he was merely sticking to Liberal Democrat manifesto commitments. Mr Gorrie was media-friendly in the modern sense, always willing to dispense quotes and, more importantly from a newspaper's point of view, criticism. Re-elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2003, in some ways he mellowed, while in others – like his political hero Gladstone – he became more radical.

His independent streak was recognised with two Herald Politician of the Year awards, Back Bencher of the Year in 1999 and Free Spirit of the Year two years later. A diligent committee member, he served on Procedures (1999-2003), Finance (2000-02), Justice (2001-03), Communities (2003-05), Standards (2003-07), Culture (2003-07) and as convener of the Procedures Committee during his last two years as an MSP.

On his retirement in 2007, Mr Gorrie warned his party it should "never say never" to an independence referendum, particularly if it meant ending up out of Government, which is what happened when the SNP formed a minority administration. Away from Holyrood, Mr Gorrie kept busy with historical writing projects, his cultural hobbies and promoting youth activities – a passion since his time as a city councillor.

A tall, somewhat stooping figure, he died after a long illness and is survived by his wife Astrid and two sons, one of whom, Robert, is a Liberal Democrat councillor in the London borough of Haringey.