Editing Ray Michie

{{Short description|Scottish politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name         = The Baroness Michie of Gallanach
|honorific-suffix = 
|image        = 
|constituency_MP = [[Argyll and Bute (UK Parliament constituency)|Argyll and Bute]]
|parliament   = 
|majority     = 
|term_start   = 11 June 1987
|term_end     = 14 May 2001
|predecessor  = [[John MacKay, Baron MacKay of Ardbrecknish|John Mackay]]
|successor    = [[Alan Reid (politician)|Alan Reid]]
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1934|02|4|df=yes}}
|birth_place  = [[Balmaha|Balmaha, Stirlingshire, Scotland]], UK
|death_date   = {{death date and age|2008|5|6|1934|02|4|df=yes}}
|death_place  = [[Oban|Oban, Scotland]]
|birthname    = Janet Ray Bannerman
|nationality  = [[United Kingdom|Scottish]]
|party        = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]]
|otherparty   = 
|spouse       = Iain Michie
|residence    = [[Oban|Oban, Scotland]]
|alma_mater   = Edinburgh College of Speech Therapy}}

'''Janet Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach''' (''née'' '''Bannerman'''; 4 February 1934 – 6 May 2008) was a Scottish [[speech therapist]] and [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] politician. She served as the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Argyll and Bute (UK Parliament constituency)|Argyll and Bute]] for fourteen years, from 1987-2001, and then became a [[life peer]] in the [[House of Lords]]. She was the first peer to pledge the [[oath of allegiance]] in the House of Lords in [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]].

==Early life==
Janet Ray Bannerman was born in the Old Manse, [[Balmaha]], on the eastern shore of [[Loch Lomond]] in [[Stirlingshire]], the second of four children of Jenny Murray (Ray) (''née'' Mundell) and [[John Bannerman, Baron Bannerman of Kildonan|John Bannerman]] (later Lord Bannerman of Kildonan).<ref>Emma Sanderson-Nash, Ray Michie in Brack et al. (eds.), ''Dictionary of Liberal Biography'', Politico's (1998)<!-- ISBN, pages needed --></ref>

Her father was a farm manager to the [[Duke of Montrose]], a former [[Scotland national rugby union team|Scotland rugby player]] and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician. In her youth, she spoke at political meetings while waiting for her father to arrive. He contested [[Argyllshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Argyll]] at the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]], and [[Inverness (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverness]] at the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950 general election]]. He surprised many by narrowly losing the [[1954 Inverness by-election]], coming close again at the general elections in [[1951 United Kingdom general election|1951]] and [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955]]. He narrowly lost the [[1961 Paisley by-election]], and contested [[Paisley (UK Parliament constituency)|Paisley]] again at the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]], before becoming a [[life peer]] in December 1967.

Michie was educated at [[Aberdeen High School for Girls]], Lansdowne House School (Edinburgh), and the Edinburgh College of Speech Therapy. She married Iain Michie in 1957, and she followed his work with the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] for 16 years in the UK and overseas. They had three daughters. She continued as a [[speech therapist]] after they settled in [[Oban]], working at the county hospital and becoming Area Speech Therapist for the Argyll and Clyde Health Board in 1977.<ref name=":0" />

==Political career==
Following in the footsteps of her father, she entered politics and became Chairman of Argyll Liberal Association from 1973–76, and then vice-Chairman of the [[Scottish Liberal Party]] from 1977-79. She was the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] candidate for Argyll and Bute on three occasions, losing in [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979]] and [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]], but ultimately defeating Conservative minister [[John MacKay, Baron MacKay of Ardbrecknish|John Mackay]] to secure election as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] at the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]], becoming the sole female Liberal MP.

She took the [[oath of allegiance]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]], and joined the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] upon the party's formation in 1988. She increased her majority at the next two general elections, gaining the confidence of the voters in her scattered constituency of peninsulas and islands. {{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

She was a Liberal Democrat spokesman on Transport and Rural Development from 1987–88, on Women's Issues from 1988–94, and on Scotland from 1988-97. She was an advocate of [[home rule]] for Scotland and the promotion of and development of the [[Scottish Gaelic]] language. She was also chair of the [[Scottish Liberal Democrats]] from 1992-93. She was appointed a member of the panel of chairmen by [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker]] [[Betty Boothroyd]] in her last term in the Commons; from 1997-2001. She supported the campaigns to end submarine operations of the [[Royal Navy]] and [[United States Navy]] in the [[Firth of Clyde]],{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} to hold another inquiry into the [[1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash|Chinook crash]] on the [[Mull of Kintyre]] in 1994 in her constituency,<ref name=":0" /> and the successful bid for the residents of [[Gigha]] to buy their own island.<ref name=":0" />

In 1992, Michie became a member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Scottish Affairs. Later, she also became a joint Vice-Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group on the [[Whisky]] Industry. She stood down from Parliament at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]], being replaced by [[Alan Reid (politician)|Alan Reid]]. She was made a [[life peer]] as '''Baroness Michie of Gallanach''', of [[Oban]] in [[Argyll and Bute]] on 14 July 2001.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=56281 |date=20 July 2001 |page=8601}}</ref> She was the first peer to pledge the oath of allegiance in [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] when being introduced to the Lords.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-100054|title=Michie [nee Bannerman], (Janet) Ray, Baroness Michie of Gallanach (1934-2008)|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/100054|access-date=2019-01-25|year=2012|last1=Torrance|first1=David}}</ref>

At different points in her career, she was Vice-President of the [[Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists]], Honorary Associate of the [[National Council of Women of Great Britain]], and Honorary President of the Clyde Fishermen's Association, and also held honorary positions in the [[An Comunn Gàidhealach]], the [[Scottish National Farmers' Union]] and the [[Scottish Crofting Foundation]], and was a participant in the early days of the [[Scottish Constitutional Convention]]. She chaired the West Highland Health Services Solutions Group.

In August 2007, she was appointed to the [[Scottish Broadcasting Commission]] established by the [[Scottish Government]]. Before the Commission was able to report, Michie died at her home in [[Oban]] after receiving treatment for cancer.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7387812.stm "'Tireless' Lib Dem stalwart dies"], BBC News, 7 May 2008.</ref> She died two days after her Liberal Democrat colleague  in the House of Lords, [[Richard Holme]]. She was survived by two daughters, having been predeceased by her husband and a third daughter.

==References==
{{reflist}}

*Obituaries:
**[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1935892/Lady-Michie.html ''The Daily Telegraph'', 9 May 2008]
**[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/may/09/liberaldemocrats.scotland ''The Guardian'', 9 May 2008]
**[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/baroness-michie-of-gallanach-lib-dem-peer-committed-toscotland-and-the-gaelic-language-826281.html  ''The Independent'', 9 May 2008]
**[https://web.archive.org/web/20081121190034/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3911439.ece ''The Times'', 9 May 2008]

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060111184624/http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/baroness-michie-of-gallanach.html Baroness Michie of Gallanach] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats(page not found)
* {{Hansard-contribs | mrs-ray-michie | Ray Michie }}

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{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Argyll and Bute (UK Parliament constituency)|Argyll and Bute]]
  | years  = [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987]]–[[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]]
  | before = [[John MacKay, Baron MacKay of Ardbrecknish|John Mackay]]
  | after  = [[Alan Reid (politician)|Alan Reid]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michie, Ray}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Scottish Liberal Party MPs]]
[[Category:Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers|Michie of Gallanach]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987–1992]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:Daughters of life peers]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Scotland]]
[[Category:People educated at Harlaw Academy]]
[[Category:People from Oban]]
[[Category:People from Stirling (council area)]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Scottish women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Scottish politicians]]
[[Category:National Council of Women of Great Britain members]]
[[Category:Children of peers and peeresses created life peers|Michie]]