The most remarkable thing about the former Conservative Scottish Office minister James Douglas-Hamilton, who has died aged 81, is that he conducted a successful career, over a period of more than half a century and in four different political assemblies, without ever apparently losing a friend or making an enemy out of his opponents. His ability to traverse the traditional barriers in politics was the more unusual since “Lord James”, as he was universally known, was a scion of the premier dukedom of Scotland and operated in the arena of Scottish politics – one which is not normally noted for any deference to the nobility.
Douglas-Hamilton was an Edinburgh town councillor before being elected MP for Edinburgh West in October 1974, a seat he held for 23 years until the 1997 election wiped out every Conservative MP in Scotland. He was then made a life peer as Lord Selkirk of Douglas, and was an active member of the Lords until his retirement in July this year, an event which was unusually marked by appreciative applause from across the House for his years of service.
