1970 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1970 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Willie Ross until 20 June; then Gordon Campbell

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Henry Wilson; then Norman Wylie
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Ewan Stewart until June; then David Brand

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Clyde
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Grant
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Birsay

Events

• 21 January – Fraserburgh lifeboat Duchess of Kent, on service to the Danish fishing vessel Opal, capsizes with the loss of five of the six crew members.
• 19 March – The South Ayrshire by-election is held. Jim Sillars retains the seat for the Labour Party.
• 24 May – The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Luke in Glasgow is raised to this status.
• 18 June – The 1970 general election is held. Labour wins a majority in Scotland with 48 out of the 71 seats available, but the Conservative Party wins a majority across the UK, and Edward Heath replaces Harold Wilson as Prime Minister. The Scottish National Party wins its first MP elected at a general election (Donald Stewart in the Western Isles) but Winnie Ewing loses the Hamilton seat; leaving the SNP with only a single seat.
• 26 June – The Kingston Bridge, Glasgow opens.
• 16 – 25 July: the 1970 British Commonwealth Games are held in Edinburgh.
• 26 July – 1 August – the 1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games are held in Edinburgh.
• 7 October – BP announces the discovery of the massive Forties Oil Field in Scottish waters.
• Hepatitis B outbreak in Edinburgh.
• Blair Drummond Safari Park opens.

Births

• 14 February – Paul Rutherford, powerlifter
• 16 April – James Watson, actor
• 10 May – David Weir, international footballer
• 4 July
  • Lewis MacLeod, voice actor
  • Doddie Weir, rugby union player (died 2022)^[1]
• 19 July – Nicola Sturgeon, SNP politician, First Minister of Scotland (2014– ; Deputy from 2007)^[2]
• 21 July – Angus MacNeil, SNP politician
• 12 August – Alan Brown, SNP politician
• 21 August – David Hopkin, footballer
• 22 July – Doug Johnstone, crime fiction writer, rock musician and physicist
• 17 September – Dallas Campbell, television presenter
• 17 December – Stella Tennant, model (died 2020)
• 23 December – Karine Polwart, singer-songwriter

Deaths

• 25 May – Tom Patey, mountaineer (born 1932), died in climbing accident
• 13 June – John Nicholson, footballer (born 1888)

See also

• 1970 in Northern Ireland
• 1970 in Wales

Notes and References

1. Web site: Doddie Weir, former Scotland rugby international, dies after lengthy battle with motor neurone disease . Sky News . 28 November 2022 . en . 29 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221129060240/https://news.sky.com/story/doddie-weir-former-scotland-rugby-player-dies-after-lengthy-battle-with-motor-neurone-disease-12756092 . live.
2. Web site: Nicola Sturgeon Biography, Facts, & Scottish Independence . Encyclopedia Britannica . 20 January 2020 . en . 2 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230102191838/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon . live.