Obituary: Donald Gorrie, politician

He was first elected (to the then Edinburgh Corporation) in a by-election in the summer of 1971 (not 1991 as stated in  the article) and continued to serve the people of Corstorphine on both the Lothian  Regional and Edinburgh District Councils.

On re-organisation in 1995, he was elected to the City of Edinburgh Council, and only stood down when he was eventually elected as MP for Edinburgh West in 1997 – a total of 26 continuous years, during which he earned great respect and affection from his electorate.

After he retired from the Scottish Parliament at the 2007 election, he continued to be involved with the local community in such roles as chairman of the Corstorphine Dementia Project and Secretary of the Friends of Corstorphine Hill.

In the Liberal Party’s dark days after the 1970 general election, Donald worked in the Scottish Party’s headquarters, initially as director of research and then for a spell as chief executive. As well as his concentration on local matters in his ward, he always maintained a national perspective, hence his several general election jousts with the then Lord James Douglas  Hamilton, before his eventual victory in 1997.

It was in keeping with his wider perspective that he contested the Central Scotland list for the first Scottish Parliament elections in 1999, achieving election, and re-election in 2003, in a part of the world where the  Liberal and then Liberal Democrat parties had long had little electoral success.

Donald will long be remembered, not just as a great Liberal, but also as a great servant of the citizens of Corstorphine and the wider city. It has been an honour, and a pleasure, to have known and worked with him over many years.

PHIL WHEELER

Liberal Democrat councillor  for South Corstorphine 2001/2007

Liberal Democrat councillor for Corstorphine/Murrayfield 2007/2011