TRIBUTES have been paid to a Scottish councillor after he died aged 63.
Charlie Malone, who represented the Lochee ward on Dundee Council since first being elected in 2017, was praised as a “lifelong campaigner for equality, justice, and peace”.
Malone, who also worked as a lecturer at Abertay University’s School of Business, Law and Social Sciences, was a former Timex employee and had been involved in the high-profile industrial dispute with the firm in Dundee in 1993.
In a statement announcing his passing, Dundee Labour said: “The Labour Party is deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague, Councillor Charlie Malone.
“Charlie was a lifelong campaigner for equality, justice, and peace. He loved the community of Lochee, where he and his beloved family were raised, and which he proudly served with passion and diligence.
“He was offended by poverty wherever he found it. His prominent and proud role in the Timex dispute was about standing up for, and shoulder to shoulder with, his fellow worker, which he did all his life.
“Charlie was a socialist with a powerful voice for the powerless, a cutting tongue for the establishment, and the warmest of smiles for his friends. We will miss him sorely.”
Former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont commented: “This is such sad news. A lovely, principled and kind man.”
Fraser Macpherson, the leader of the LibDem group on Dundee Council, said: “Charlie was held in the highest regard by all members of the council – a hard-working and able councillor for the people of Lochee, whose residents he represented with distinction.
“He always spoke with passion and eloquence.
“We will all miss Charlie greatly – one of the good guys – liked and respected by all.”
