SNP campaigner and activist

Born: November 30, 1936;

Died: December 31, 2016

ANDREW Currie, who has died aged 80, was an SNP campaigner and activist and widely recognised as a major force in the creation of the modern SNP. He was an early recruit to the 79 Group which sought a radical change of direction for the SNP and, as SNP vice-chair of organisation, introduced modern electioneering methods for the party at both local and national levels

William Neil Allison Currie, known as Andrew, was born and brought up in Renfrew where his father was the gas works manager. His parents were keen readers and hill walkers and instilled a love of the countryside in him. Encouragement to read and learn was a touchstone throughout his life.

His parents' pride and interest in the national identity of Scotland also drew him to delve into the social and economic history of his country, even as a small boy and, despite his Christian name being William, he was born on St Andrew's Day and was always proud to be known as Andrew.

Educated at Paisley Grammar School and then Glasgow University he was a keen debater. He took part in outdoor pursuits from his boyhood days in the Scouts and at university he became an active member of Glasgow University Mountaineering Club (GUM). He suspended his studies to follow jobs in outdoor education for youngsters in the Lake District and West Highlands and kept up with GUM friends in many climbing days in Scotland, Europe and North America.

He had been attracted as a student to the SNP, still a tiny party in the mid 1950s. There he joined a ginger group which soon fell out with a party they blamed for lack of progress. Later he gained friends and respect even from those of polar opposite views such as Adam Ingram MP. Throughout his life he relished debate with people of all persuasions on the condition of Scotland.

In his professional life, Andrew Currie applied innovative management methods in many new industries. His logical and speculative intellect drew him to gain personnel qualifications in management systems and training apprentices. He was passionate in promoting outdoor leadership as an excellent way for young apprentices to learn and develop organisational practices.

From 1963, at Roots of Linwood, he applied his management skills with considerable success at British Aluminium at the new Invergordon smelter and Brown & Roots Nigg oil fabrication yard nearby. He recruited and trained many hundreds of personnel into work forces of these cutting-edge industries. He also challenged the upper management on their goals as he was not a ‘big company man’. He believed Westminster was encouraging American companies to ride roughshod over workers and Scottish resources. A job at IBM in Greenock was a more sympathetic fit after that spell in Ross-shire.

Whilst working at Nigg in 1972 and living in a rented cottage in Saltburn, he bought land at Lamington with grand views over the Cromarty Firth. As soon as the first main block of living room, bedroom and kitchen were built he moved in to Rowanwood. The house grew over the decades, all self-built with occasional help at New Year from visiting friends.

Andrew Currie & Associates traded as consultants from 1974 and this was followed by a spell to professionalise the Citizens Advice Bureau’s organisation to meet new challenges. There he met Peter Peacock and Jim McCallum, also development officers for The Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. They reformed Mr Currie's training consultancy as ACT in the 1980s helping small businesses throughout the UK to improve employee relations.

Mr Currie's return to the SNP fold in the early 1970s brought him active service on behalf of Willie McRae, the SNP candidate in Ross-shire in the 1974 elections. Andrew Currie’s work and SNP commitments in the central belt included a stint on the transport committee where he met Aileen McCubbin, a school librarian who had two boys George and Tom by a previous marriage. Andrew and Aileen were married in 1976 to the surprise of a few friends gathered for a lunch in Edinburgh. He adopted the boys who were joined by baby sister Kirsteen in 1983. The family was based in Hamilton and at Lamington during holidays to which Andrew and Aileen intended to retire.

He stood for parliament in Kirkcaldy in 1979 where he had organised the abortive Yes campaign. Frustrated by the rise of Thatcherism, he was an early recruit to the 79 Group which sought a radical change of direction for the SNP. In 1982 when he rose to leave the platform during the chairman’s speech at the SNP conference in Ayr it was a signal for a major walk-out with consequences that reverberate to this day.

Later in that turbulent decade he was elected SNP vice-chair of organisation where he introduced modern electioneering methods for the party at both local and national levels. Many members of his national organisation committee spread these methods across the land which they recall with pride to this day. Mr Currie's innovative sit-com party political broadcasts were created at that time.

In 1990, back up north, Mr Currie unsuccessfully contested a district by-election in the Seaboard of Easter Ross which resulted in a tie but Mr Currie picked the wrong envelope in the tie breaker. He was my election agent for Ross, Cromarty and Skye in 1992 and later helped organise election work in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross in 1997 and for the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

Aileen’s health became precarious over time having suffered severe rheumatoid arthritis in 1984. He had adapted and added to Rowanwood to accommodate Aileen’s mobility issues as the final extension of his sprawling self-build scheme. He dutifully fulfilled the role as her full-time carer till her death in January 2015. This signalled Mr Currie's own demise as he was simply lost without her. He died in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, on Hogmanay. In his 78th year, sure enough, he was out canvassing for Yes votes in Milton village in his beloved Easter Ross.

ROB GIBSON