John MacLeod

Sir John MacLeod TD (23 February 1913 – 3 June 1984) was a British army officer, tweed designer, and politician who was a Member of Parliament in the Scottish highlands for 19 years. Family MacLeod's family were from the Isle of Skye where his father owned Skeabost. Jacko, as the family called him, was the youngest son of Duncan MacLeod CBE who had interests in the whisky industry. MacLeod was sent to Fettes College in Edinburgh for his education. In 1938, he married Rosemary Theodora Hamilton Wills from a Gloucestershire family. The couple had two sons and three daughters. He worked running a centre which sold articles woven by crofters on the family's land. Army service In 1935, MacLeod had joined the Territorial division of the Cameron Highlanders. During the Second World War, he served as a captain with the 51st Highland Division in France in 1940 and was taken prisoner in June at Saint-Valery-en-Caux when the Division surrendered. He spent the rest of the war as a Prisoner of war. Election to Parliament When repatriated at the end of the war, MacLeod avidly read, The Times, for 3 weeks to get up to speed on British affairs before entering into politics as a candidate for Ross and Cromarty in the 1945 general election. MacLeod was adopted by the Ross-shire Liberal Association, which was not affiliated to the Liberal Party or the National Liberal Party; thereupon, he declared himself a supporter of Winston Churchill. Most of the press designated him as a Liberal National and he faced a straight fight with the Labour Party to succeed Malcolm MacDonald. MacLeod had no difficulty in being elected, winning with a majority of 4,102. MacLeod had intended to take the Liberal whip in support of Sir Archie Sinclair, the Liberal leader, who represented the neighbouring constituency, but Sinclair was narrowly defeated in the same election.