George Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie

George Yull Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie CBE DSO[1] DFC[2] (10 July 1919 – 17 February 2015)[3] was a Scottish Liberal Party politician.

The Right Honourable The Lord Mackie of Benshie CBE DSO DFC
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 15 May 1974 – 17 February 2015 Life Peerage
Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland
In office 16 October 1964 – 10 March 1966
Preceded by	Sir David Robertson
Succeeded by	Bob Maclennan
Personal details
Born	George Yull Mackie 10 July 1919 Tarves
Died	19 February 2015 (aged 95) Dundee
Cause of death	Stroke
Citizenship	Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Scottish Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	Lindsay Sharp (1944-1985) Deceased Jacqueline Lane (1988) Widowed
Children	Lindsay Jeannie Diana
Parents	Maitland Mackie (father) Mary (mother)
Occupation	Farmer RAF navigator Businessman Liberal
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force (RAF)
Years of service	1939 - 1945
Rank	Squadron Leader
Unit	No 15 Squadron at Wyton No 148 Squadron at Kabrit No 115 Squadron at Little Snoring Air Ministry
Commands held	Officers’ Squadron at Brackla
Battles/wars	World War II (WWII)
Awards	DFC DSO

After World War II in which he served as a decorated airman with RAF Bomber Command, Mackie took over a farm at Benshie, Angus, and subsequently set up a cattle ranch at Braeroy, Inverness-shire, near Spean Bridge.[4] Having first contested South Angus in 1959, he was elected Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland in 1964. In the Commons he served as Scottish Liberal whip. He lost his seat in 1966, when he was defeated by Labour candidate Robert Maclennan. Maclennan eventually became a senior Social Democrat Party/Liberal Democrat politician in the 1980s. Mackie contested Caithness and Sutherland again in 1970, but lost by a wider margin.

Having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1971,[5] he was given a life peerage, as Baron Mackie of Benshie, of Kirriemuir in the County of Angus on 10 May 1974.[6] In the House of Lords, he served as Agriculture and Scottish Affairs spokesman for the Liberals and their successor parties between 1975 and 2000. Having been Chair of the Scottish Liberal Party from 1965 to 1970, he was its president between 1983 and 1988. In 1980, he was elected to serve a term as Rector of the University of Dundee.

His older brothers were Sir Maitland Mackie and John Mackie, Baron John-Mackie.

Until his death, Mackie was the oldest living person to have served as a Liberal Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom.[4] His death was announced on 17 February 2015. He was 95 years old.[4][7]

Lord Mackie's papers are held by Archive Services at the University of Dundee.[8]

Mackie married firstly, in 1944, Lindsay, daughter of lawyer Alexander Sharp, of Aberdeen. They had three daughters, the eldest of whom, Lindsay, married the journalist Alan Rusbridger.[9][10] Mackie married secondly, in 1988, Jacqueline, daughter of Colonel Marcel Rauch, of the French Air Force.[11]

Sources

• Parliament.uk Biography, parliament.uk; accessed 15 November 2015.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

References

1. "No. 36374". The London Gazette. 8 February 1944. p. 737.
2. "No. 36745". The London Gazette. 13 October 1944. p. 4692.
3. "Scottish Liberal Lord Mackie of Benshie dies at 95". Liberal Democrat Voice.
4. Notice of death of Lord Mackie of Benshie, heraldscotland.com; accessed 17 February 2015.
5. "No. 45262". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1971. p. 8.
6. "No. 46289". The London Gazette. 14 May 1974. p. 5851.
7. Lord Mackie of Benshie obituary, guardian.com; accessed 18 February 2015
8. "MS 404 George Mackie, Lord Mackie of Benshie". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
9. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/17/lord-mackie-of-benshie
10. https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13202152.lord-mackie-of-benshie
11. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 2507

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Mackie