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Scottish Nationalist

Robert Douglas McIntyre (15 December 1913 – 2 February 1998) was a Scottish physician and a Scottish National Party politician and Member of Parliament. McIntyre studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow, and worked as a GP and a consultant pulmonologist. He came to political prominence in 1945 when he won the Motherwell by election, becoming the SNP's first ever Member of Parliament. McIntyre served as the Leader of the Scottish National Party from 1947 to 1956, and as President of the SNP from 1958 to 1980. He was the Provost of Stirling from 1967 to 1975. Known affectionately as "Doc Mac", he was often referred to as the "Father of the SNP".

McIntyre was born in Motherwell, the son of John Ebenezer McIntyre, a minister of the United Free Church of Scotland. He was educated at Hamilton Academy and Daniel Stewart's College. However, he had become increasingly disillusioned with the Labour Party's commitment to Scottish home rule and had been disappointed when he and his fellow students at the Edinburgh University Labour Party had sent a resolution to the Scottish Council of the Labour Party, only to be informed that the council was not involved in the formation of Labour Party policy. Steeped in Scottish history and culture, he believed in the right of small nations to self government. In 1940, McIntyre joined the Scottish National Party and became the party's membership secretary when it was still headed by John MacCormick, but he resisted MacCormick's later attempts to change the SNP from supporting a policy of full Scottish independence to supporting a modicum of Home Rule. MacCormick would leave the SNP in 1942 from which point McIntyre became the party's leading figure, serving as National Secretary (1942 1945) and as vice chairman (1945 1947), before being chosen as Chairman (leader) of the SNP in May 1947. On 13 April 1945, shortly before the end of World War II, McIntyre won the Motherwell by election, with a narrow majority of 617 votes over his Labour opponent. He made history as the first SNP candidate to be elected as a Member of Parliament. Upon arriving at Parliament, he had difficulty finding the customary two sponsors to allow him to take his seat, as members did not want to break party loyalties. Two reluctant sponsors were found but McIntyre chose to present himself to the Speaker alone, later writing "I very clearly stated to the people of Motherwell and Wishaw that I would give no allegiance to the London controlled parties". A vote to waive the rule was lost, and eventually he accepted the sponsorship of James Barr and Alexander Sloan "under protest". He lost the seat only three months later at the 1945 general election, to the Labour Party. He then returned to his medical practice, working in Stirling Royal Infirmary to treat and prevent tuberculosis. However, he continued to stand at every subsequent general election, up to October 1974. After McIntyre stood down as party leader in 1956, he was elected as President of the Scottish National Party, holding this office until 1980. In 1956, he was also elected as a member of Stirling Burgh Council, a position he held until 1975. He was Provost of Stirling from 1967 to 1975. McIntyre was first (and last) vice president of the Celtic League (from 1961 to 1971). Gwynfor Evans was president at the time. In 1962 he was nominated by the Scottish Nationalist Association as a candidate for Rector of the University of Glasgow, where he finished second behind Albert Luthuli who was then the President of the African National Congress.

McIntyre married Letitia Macleod in 1954 and they had one son together. Robert McIntyre died on 2 February 1998, aged 84.