John Bannerman, Baron Bannerman of Kildonan

Born in Glasgow in 1901,[3] Bannerman was the son of John Roderick Bannerman, a Post Office employee originally from the Hebridean island of South Uist but living in Glasgow at the time of his son's birth; he is remembered for writing the popular Scottish folk song "Mairi's Wedding". John Bannerman always treasured his Highland heritage and was a native Gaelic speaker.[4] Bannerman was educated at Shawlands Academy and Glasgow High School.[3] He graduated from the University of Glasgow with a Bachelor of Science and then went on to Balliol College, Oxford and later to Cornell University in the United States.

In 1931 he married Ray Mundell and they had two sons and two daughters. One of their daughters was the Liberal Democrat MP, Ray Michie (later Baroness Michie of Gallanach). The historian John Bannerman was his son, and Donald Shade Munro, the rugby player and coach was his grandson.[5][6][7]

In 1930, Bannerman was appointed as a farm manager on land owned by the Duke of Montrose. In 1952 Bannerman left the Montrose estate to become a farmer in his own interests and also that year became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the Festival of Britain.[3][13]

Bannerman became active in Liberal politics from the 1930s. He was particularly interested in the problems of depopulation and unemployment for ordinary people in the Scottish Highlands and islands. From 1942 to 1957 he was a Forestry Commissioner.[14] In 1938 he was adopted as prospective Liberal parliamentary candidate for Argyll. When the seat fell vacant in 1940 it was mooted that Bannerman might run as a Liberal National but the negotiations with the Conservatives broke down robbing him of his best chance of entering the House of Commons.[3] He contested Argyll unsuccessfully in the 1945 general election and Inverness in 1950. But in 1954 he was the candidate in an extraordinary by-election at Inverness which some historians have seen as a true turning point in Liberal fortunes in Scotland and perhaps the United Kingdom.[15] From a position where there had been no Liberal candidate in the 1951 election, Bannerman jumped into second place over Labour, coming just 1331 votes behind the Tory winner. This was the best Liberal by-election performance since the war. At the general election of 1955, Bannerman came even closer, losing by just 966 votes. Although his vote share declined in the 1959 general election, the ground had been laid for a successful attack on the seat in the 1964 general election by Russell Johnston, who held the seat until he retired from the Commons in 1997.

Bannerman was chairman of the Scottish Liberal Party from 1954 to 1964 and Rector of Aberdeen University in 1957. He made other attempts to enter the Commons, including giving Labour a close run at the Paisley by-election of 1961, registering 41.3% of the vote in a seat where there had been no Liberal candidate at the 1959 general election. He tried again without success at Paisley at the 1964 general election but in December 1967 he was made Baron Bannerman of Kildonan, of Kildonan in the County of Sutherland,[16] and so finally entered Parliament.

In 1922 he won the prestigious gold medal for solo singing at the Royal National Mòd in Fort William. He was President of An Comunn Gàidhealach, the national Gaelic Society, a position previously held by his father, from 1949 to 1954.[19]

He died in Tidworth, Hampshire, on 10 May 1969 aged 67.[3]

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