Labour MP

Born: July 8, 1934;

Died 18 October 2016

WILLIAM McKelvey, who has died aged 82, was a Scottish Labour MP who campaigned on the decline of the traditional industries in the West of Scotland at the height of Thatcherism. He also made the radical suggestion for the 1990s that heroin should be supplied free to addicts in Glasgow to help solve the city's burgeoning drugs problem.

McKelvey was the Labour MP for Kilmarnock from 1979 to 1983 (where he succeeded the redoubtable, and former Secretary of State for Scotland, Willie Ross) and for Kilmarnock and Loudoun from 1983 until his retirement in 1997, the election that saw Labour's return to power under Tony Blair after 18 years of Tory government.

McKelvey's retirement from politics was reluctant. He had to pull out of the General Election that year after being taken ill during canvassing in Kilmarnock. He told The Herald: “I have suffered a slight stroke and am deeply disappointed that I have to withdraw.”

In the House of Commons, McKelvey was active on matters concerning Scotland (sitting twice on the Scottish Affairs Committee) and championed many subjects concerning the west of Scotland. In 1981, for example, he had meetings with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher about the closing of the Armitage Shanks and Blackwood Morton and Sons (BMK) factories in Kilmarnock.

McKelvey wrote to Mrs Thatcher about the closure of the BMK carpet factory requesting a meeting “certainly before the House rises next week.” He stressed that the closure would bring the total number of unemployed in his constituency to 22 per cent.

At the meeting at Number 10, McKelvey informed the PM that further closures in the area were expected. Mrs Thatcher was sympathetic to the situation in Kilmarnock and agreed that the company had mishandled the closures and redundancies.

William McKelvey (known widely as Willie) was the son of George McKelvey who was a founding member of the famous Jimmy Shand Band. He was brought up in Dundee and played a significant part in the city’s development and with the local branch of the Amalgamated Engineering Union.

As the MP for Kilmarnock who succeeded Willie Ross – who had held the seat for 33 years – McKelvey upheld the best traditions of the constituency in Westminster and proved a tireless and eloquent advocate on its behalf in the House.

He was a true democrat and campaigned strenuously to democratise the procedures of the Parliamentary Labour party. In this he was joined by the member for Dundee West Ernie Ross - the two proposed that “all Labour MPs should sign a loyalty oath to stand by conference decisions.”

During his time as chairman of the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs McKelvey produced an incisive report on Drug Abuse in Scotland which proposed some far-reaching and controversial measures for the treatment of heroin addicts in Glasgow.

His proposal to provide heroin to addicts was controversial with some in his own party, but was welcomed by many campaigners on the issues. Speaking in 1995, he said: "In Glasgow, where heroin kills two young people on average each week, it is now time for the NHS to go the whole way. If pure, clean heroin was selectively decriminalised and supplied free to those addicts who wanted to kick their habit, it would drastically reduce the level of mixing and the death rate would decline. At the same time, drugs-related crime, which costs the city up to £1bn each year, would drop. Overall, Glasgow and its people would be better off."

McKelvey was a man of wide-ranging interests and spoke in the House on the Scotch whisky industry and occupational pensions.

In 1990 he spoke on behalf of two constituents whose sons were suffering from both haemophilia and were HIV-positive. In an impassioned speech the MP pleaded with the government to make funds available to help such distraught families.

Desmond Browne who succeeded him at Kilmarnock and Loudoun in his Maiden speech in 1997 paid a fitting tribute to his predecessor. “Willie was always interested in people. Throughout the constituency I have been struck by the level of genuine affection for Willie. In my view, there is no better legacy than that.”

McKelvey was one of the characters of the House of Commons. He was one of the few MPs to sing a question on the floor of the House - to the tune of ‘You’ve never smelt the Tangle of the Isles’. Unfortunately Hansard, the Parliamentary daily record, reported it as, “You’ll never smell the Tam of the aisles.”

McKelvey was a passionate follower of dog racing and, at times, an owner. One of his best dogs was Lady Polly which won several races at Powderhall and McKelvey admitted when he retired Lady Polly from the track, “I took her home and she was a tremendous pal for the next 12 years.”

He lived for many years in Kilmaurs and is survived by his wife Edith and their children.

ALASDAIR STEVEN