Journalist
Born: October 5, 1937;
Died: July 10, 2016
STUART Trotter, who has died aged 78, was a gifted journalist who joined the staff of The Herald in 1965 as a reporter in Glasgow before becoming the paper’s Scottish Political Correspondent and a linchpin of the journalist community at Westminster.
He moved to Westminster in 1966 to join The Herald’s team there, led by John Warden, to cover Scottish legislation as parliamentary correspondent. In those days newspapers reported the proceedings of bills as they made their way through Parliament and all the speeches by Scots MPs in debates, a practice long gone. It was that there he built up his impressive range of political contacts.
As parliamentary correspondent, he wrote the sketch, something he greatly enjoyed, which he did with wit and style. He then spent the last 12 years as political correspondent before taking early retirement in 1996.
A gifted speaker, a talent he revealed when he became chairman of the gallery in 1983 and had to preside at the regular political lunches, he was frequently more interesting than the guest. At one point the gallery committee decided to purchase a chair from the House similar to those used by committee chairmen for the gallery chairman to use at these lunches. It cost almost £1,000 – the House authorities did the gallery no discount favours – and a great row ensued. The current chairman refused to use it. Mr Trotter had no such qualms as chairman and liked to recall explaining to David Owen that the chair was not for him to sit in.
An active member of the National Union of Journalists he attended conferences for several years as a gallery representative, always arguing the moderate case with skill. He was fascinated by politics, especially the legislative process, how things were done, and how they might be done. The aftermath of the Brexit vote may have left many confused as to exactly what the Scottish Government might be able to do should Scotland vote to remain – Stuart Trotter has already found out.
A nephew of Sandy Trotter, a distinguished editor of the Scottish Daily Express, he was born in Edinburgh and grew up in Liverpool where his father was an executive on the Liverpool Daily Post. Journalism was a family trade and in due course the young Stuart entered it in traditional fashion, joining a local newspaper, and becoming its editor, before moving to The Herald.
Journalists sometimes fly by the seat of their pants, but he never did. He had researched what he wrote about, and he had read widely, one reason why, although they were miles apart politically, one of his best friends in politics was Donald Dewar. After Stuart retired to Edinburgh they would meet for lunch several times a year, not to talk about current politics, but about books and the politics of the past. Dewar had arrived at Westminster the year before Stuart and it was a friendship founded while one man was on those Scottish committees, the other reporting them.
Literature, the theatre – he had written some unperformed plays – and films were all passions. He had an impressive collection of classic movies.
He also liked good food and wine but by no stretch of the imagination was he a Lunchtime Boozer. Lunchtime with him meant good conversation – in London the Berkeley Hotel near HydePark Corner just outside the Westminster bubble was the one he used – and in Edinburgh he had a favourite table at Hadrian’s.
His political views changed over the years. Originally he was a Liberal, but he moved to the Conservatives, losing faith in retirement after having contributed material to speeches for William Hague, then leader, to make in Scotland. They did not use it. Stuart was not pleased. He then became a supporter of Ukip, to the surprise of those who knew him and relished the result of the referendum in which he voted. It created just the sort of problems to which he enjoyed seeking the answers.
Always smartly dressed – he had the deportment of a Poirot – he favoured in bad weather those Russian furry hats, which lent him a certain distinction. For years he enjoyed travelling in Europe, although recently he tended to stay in the United Kingdom. What he liked most was a good hotel, good food and a good book. He never married, although there were certainly two serious relationships which did not get as far as the altar. He was, in the best sense of the words, an old-fashioned ladies’ man.
I spent more than 20 of his 35 years on the paper working with him in the press gallery and he was the ideal colleague, supportive, always there. He was also the only man I know who would buy a first class return ticket to make the train journey from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
I last saw him earlier this year when he came to the annual dinner for those who have retired from The Herald. It is held at Babbity Bowster. I can still remember how annoyed he was the following day to discover they had stopped serving a full Scottish breakfast.
When he received the OBE in 1997, I got the task of writing the story. Stuart said that it was all very nice but I had got it all wrong. I can hear him saying that again about this. When he wrote about Donald Dewar after his death he ended by saying Dewar had been “a truly civilised, kindly and decent man.” I can think of no better way of describing Stuart.
WILLIAM RUSSELL
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