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  Steel, David
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationIndependent  
<-  2017-06-21  
 
NameDavid Steel
Address
Kirkcaldy, , Scotland
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born March 31, 1938 (86 years)
Contributor411 Name Removed
Last ModifedIndyGeorgia
May 10, 2019 06:50pm
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InfoDavid Martin Scott Steel, Lord Steel of Aikwood is a Scottish politician and a Liberal Democrat member of the UK House of Lords. He was leader of The Liberal Party from 1976 until its 1988 merger with the Social Democratic Party that formed the Liberal Democrats, and was briefly joint interim leader of the "Lib Dems". He was also the first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, holding that post between 1999 and 2003.

David Steel was born in Fife, the son of a Church of Scotland minister also called David Steel, who would later serve as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He was brought up in Scotland and Kenya. He first took an active part in Liberal politics at the University of Edinburgh, and after graduating in Law worked for the Scottish Liberal Party and then the BBC before being elected to the House of Commons at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election of 1965. He represented this seat until 1983, when he became member for Tweedale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, a new constituency covering some of the same territory.

As an MP he was responsible for introducing, as a Private Member's Bill, the Abortion Act 1967 (see Abortion in the United Kingdom). He also became the Liberal Party's spokesman on employment, and in 1970 its Chief Whip.

He became Liberal leader in 1976 after the downfall of Jeremy Thorpe. In 1977 he led the Liberals into the "Lib-Lab Pact" by which they agreed to keep the Labour government in power. The unpopularity of the Labour government rubbed off on the Liberals, and Steel's first election as leader, the 1979 general election, saw a decline in Liberal fortunes.

In 1981 a group of Labour moderates left their party to form the Social Democratic Party, and joined the Liberals in the SDP-Liberal Alliance, an electoral alliance which was so promising in its early days that Steel was able to tell the Liberal Assembly to "prepare for government". After the 1988 merger with the SDP, of which he was the chief proponent, Steel was briefly joint interim leader of the Social and Liberal Democrats (as the new party was at first called), before becoming the party's Foreign Affairs spokesman. He was knighted (KBE) in 1990.

He retired from the House of Commons at the 1997 general election and was made a life peer in the same year. He campaigned for Scottish devolution, and in 1999 was elected to the Scottish Parliament as a Liberal Democrat member for Lothians. He became the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the Scottish Parliament on May 12, 1999. In this role he was known as Sir David Steel, despite his peerage, and had no party allegiance. He stepped down as an MSP when the parliament was dissolved for the 2003 election, but remained as Presiding Officer until he had supervised the election of his successor on May 7 of that year.

George Reid succeeded Steel as Presiding Officer.


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DISCUSSION
Importance? 8.00000 Average

FAMILY
Daughter Catriona Bhatia 0000-

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  05/12/1999 Scottish Parliament - Presiding Officer Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  05/06/1999 Scottish Parliament - Lothians At-Large Seat Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  06/06/1997 UK House of Lords - Baron Steel of Aikwood Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  04/09/1992 UK Parliament - Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale Won 39.89% (+8.18%)
  03/03/1988 Liberal Democrat Party Leader - Interim Won 50.00% (+0.00%)
  06/11/1987 UK Parliament - Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale Won 49.94% (+20.32%)
  06/09/1983 UK Parliament - Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale Won 58.46% (+29.60%)
  05/03/1979 UK Prime Minister Lost 1.73% (-51.65%)
  05/03/1979 UK Parliament - Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles Won 53.10% (+21.84%)
  07/06/1976 Liberal Party Leader Won 64.07% (+28.15%)
  10/10/1974 UK Parliament - Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles Won 43.65% (+16.22%)
  02/28/1974 UK Parliament - Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles Won 52.00% (+18.24%)
  06/18/1970 UK Parliament - Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles Won 42.26% (+1.19%)
  03/31/1966 UK Parliament - Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles Won 45.66% (+4.90%)
  03/24/1965 UK Parliament - Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles - By-election Won 49.16% (+10.51%)
  10/15/1964 UK Parliament - Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles Lost 38.87% (-3.93%)
ENDORSEMENTS
Liberal Democrats Party Leader - Jul 15, 2015 LD Tim Farron
Liberal Democrat Party Leader - Dec 17, 2007 LD Chris Huhne
Liberal Party Leader - Jan 17, 1967 Lib Jeremy Thorpe