Douglas Henderson

Douglas Henderson (16 July 1935 – 15 September 2006) was a Scottish politician. He was Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1971 to 1973 and from 1979 to 1981. He served as a Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for East Aberdeenshire from 1974 to 1979, and held virtually every national office in the SNP, short of party leader. His political style has been described as "no-nonsense" and "very blunt and forthright". He was also known for his forceful public speaking, which former SNP leader Alex Salmond described as "messianic". Early life and career Henderson was born in Edinburgh, the son of a railway porter. He won a scholarship to attend the Royal High School and was then awarded a bursary which allowed him to attend the University of Edinburgh from 1952 to 1957. He graduated from Edinburgh with an MA and an LLB. He worked as a management consultant in the UK and overseas. He married Maureen Ferguson in Johannesburg in 1960 and had four children, but they were later divorced. In later life, his home and business partner was English fashion designer Betty Davies; together, they founded Scottish Fashion International. In later years, he regularly attended St Giles Cathedral, where his funeral was held on 7 October 2006.