Nostalgia: Primed for a capital visit

Published on Saturday 2 May 2009 11:28

THE size of the audience would be a sight to gladden the heart of any prime minister – although Harold Wilson was a mere Labour MP and shadow minister when this picture was taken in 1955.

It was the first visit Mr Wilson – who became PM in 1964 – made to Edinburgh as he addressed workers and their families as part of Miners' Gala Day celebrations in Holyrood Park.

A crowd of 100,000 demonstrated just what a key industry it once was – yet now, mining no longer exists in the Lothians.

The woman many blame for the demise in mining is Margaret Thatcher, who was in power during the bitter strike of 1984. Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the Tories' election win which swept her to power.

She became a notoriously divisive figure in Scotland, with the strike and poll tax still stirring up angry memories for many.

Yet, on her very first visit as Conservative leader to Edinburgh in 1975, she was mobbed at the St James Centre. At least three women fainted in the struggle to catch a glimpse of the country's first female party leader.

She was probably less popular, at least in certain quarters, when she visited in 1983, outlining measures to help save 258 jobs at a threatened Cowdenbeath Fisher Controls' plant.

Our other photograph of the Iron Lady shows her ready to give a speech to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, controversially referred to by some as her "Sermon on The Mound".

Prime ministers of all political colours have made their way north over the years. Edward Heath was a year into his tenure in 1971 when he was led out at Murrayfield prior to Scotland's victory over England, the 100th anniversary of their first clash, while Harold Macmillan also enjoyed sporty surroundings at Muirfield Golf Club in 1958.

With a slender lead in opinion polls, Jim Callaghan used his 1979 visit to warn of the dangers associated with Tory plans to scrap price control mechanisms. He stayed at the North British Hotel on Princes Street and enjoyed a short stroll along to Register House, before addressing a rally at the Leith Theatre on Ferry Road.

Scottish devolution was already a hot topic 30 years ago as Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Conservative PM from 1963 to '64, warned students at the Edinburgh University Conservative Association against voting for independence later that year.