Former Scottish MP Lord Monro dies

Scottish peer and former MP Lord Monro dies

Wednesday, 30, Aug 2006 12:00

The former Scottish MP and Conservative peer, Lord Monro of Langholm, has died at the age of 85.

Hector Monro was MP for Dumfries for 33 years, before entering the House of Lords as a life peer in 1997.

Born in October 1922 in Edinburgh, he was educated at Canford school and then King's College Cambridge, before serving in the Royal Air Force (RAF) in world war two.

After the war, he returned to Scotland to farm, but remained in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force until 1954, and became honorary air commodore and then honorary inspector general until 2000.

Lord Monro was elected MP for Dumfries in 1964, and over the course of his Commons career held a number of frontbench positions, including that of UK sport minister.

He earned a reputation as an outspoken MP, and this continued during his career in the House of Lords, where most recently he attacked the government's plans for merging the Scottish regiments.

As a long-time farmer, the peer also condemned the Rural Payments Agency for the delays earlier this year in distributing farm payments in England – something he noted that both the Scottish and Welsh equivalent agencies had been able to do on time.

Today David Mundell, the MP who succeeded him in what is now the constituency of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, paid tribute to a man who was "admired and respected by people of all political parties and none".

"Hector will be fondly remembered and sorely missed in Dumfries. He was a truly outstanding MP for over 30 years," Mr Mundell said.

"His greatest legacy will perhaps be the way he transcended politics here…Hector always put his constituents first, which is the hallmark of a truly great MP and that is why he was so widely respected in Dumfriesshire."

Scottish Conservative chairman Peter Duncan expressed his sadness at news of Lord Monro's death, saying he was a "great man and a great servant for the Conservative party" and would be sorely missed.

Annabel Goldie MSP, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, added: "Hector was the embodiment of public service. He never forgot, even as a government minister, that it was people who had elected him to parliament and they were his first priority.

"In carrying out his many duties he displayed both a competence and a charm which won many hearts. My thoughts are with his family."

Lord Monro leaves behind his second wife, Lady Doris, and two sons.