Former deputy first minister Jim Wallace dies after surgery 'complications'

Former Scottish deputy first minister Jim Wallace has died after suffering complications as a result of surgery, his family have said.

Lord Wallace, who served as Holyrood’s first-ever deputy first minister, was undergoing a procedure at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on Thursday, but died as a result of complications from what was a scheduled major operation.

His wife Rosie Wallace said: “The family are very shocked by Jim’s death. It was all so sudden. He was still incredibly active in a whole host of areas.”

She added: “Jim was still going up and down to London and participating fully in the House of Lords. He was singing in the Dunblane Cathedral choir over the festive period and he was so looking forward to spending even more time with his grandchildren.”

She said it “brings some comfort” that he had been “surrounded by those he loved most when he died”.

And she added she was “thankful” the whole family had been together in Scotland over Christmas when Clare, one of their two daughters, and her family had flown in from New Zealand.

A former Liberal MP for Orkney and Shetland, he served 18 years at the House of Commons, becoming Scottish Liberal Democrat leader in 1992 during his time there.

He led the Scottish Lib Dems in the first ever Holyrood elections in 1999, winning the Orkney constituency with 67% of the votes cast, and serving as both an MSP and MP till he stood down from Westminster in 2001.

He took the party into coalition with Labour, which won the first Scottish Parliament elections – with that move seeing him become the country’s first deputy first minister.

He served three times as acting first minister, when the then first minister Donald Dewar underwent heart surgery in 2000 and later again that same year after Mr Dewar’s death. He also stepped into the role again in 2001, after the resignation of Mr Dewar’s successor, Henry McLeish.

He stepped down from Holyrood at the 2007 elections, the same year which he became a life peer in the Lords, going on to serve as advocate general for Scotland in the UK Government from 2010 to 2015.

He also served as the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2021 to 2022.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: “Jim Wallace was one of the architects of modern Scotland and one of the finest liberals our party has ever produced.

“He believed deeply in devolution as a way to give people better services and more control over their own lives and he lived a life of public service right up until the end.

“For me personally, he was a mainstay of support throughout my adult life. Even as he went into hospital for the final time, he was still sending me words of advice and I will always try to live up to the standards he set.

“Throughout his career, Jim was widely respected across party lines for his integrity, calm judgement and deep belief in liberal values: fairness, the rule of law and respect for communities, no matter how remote.

“Scotland is a better country because of Jim Wallace, and the Liberal Democrats are a better party because of his example.”