Donald Leach (physicist)

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Professor Donald Frederick Leach CBE (24 June 1931 – 25 February 2009), was a Scottish physicist and Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. He also served as the Principal and Vice Patron of Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret College (now Queen Margaret University) for 11 years from 1985 - 1996.

Background[edit]

Leach was born the son of Frederick John Mansell Leach and Annie Ivy Foster. He was educated at John Ruskin Grammar School, Croydon Polytechnic, Norwood Technical College and Dundee College of Technology.[1] In 1952 he married June Valentine Reid. They had two sons and one daughter. He was appointed a CBE in 1996.[2]

Professional career[edit]

Leach was Visiting lecturer in mathematics at Dundee Technical College.[3] He was Head of Department of Mathematics, Napier College of Science and Technology,[4] and Principal and Vice Patron of Queen Margaret College.[5]

Political career[edit]

Leach was an Executive member of the Scottish Liberal Party. He was Liberal candidate for the Edinburgh West division at the 1959 General Election.[6] He was Liberal candidate for the East Fife division at the 1961 by-election. In 1964 he left the Liberals and joined the Labour Party.[7] He was Labour candidate for the Kinross and West Perthshire division at the 1970 General Election.[8] He did not stand for parliament again.[9]

Electoral record[edit]

General Election 1959: Edinburgh West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Anthony Stodart 25,976 56.49
Labour James K Stocks 14,044 30.54
Liberal Donald Leach 5,962 12.97
Majority 11,932 25.95
Turnout 80.26
Unionist hold Swing
1961 East Fife by-election[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Gilmour 15,948 47.4 −22.2
Labour John Smith 8,882 26.4 −3.6
Liberal Donald Leach 8,786 26.2 N/A
Majority 7,066 21.02 −18.9
Turnout 33,616
Unionist hold Swing −9.3
General Election 1970: Kinross and Western Perthshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alec Douglas-Home 14,434 57.4
SNP Elizabeth Y. Whitley 4,670 18.6
Labour Donald Leach 3,827 15.2
Liberal John Calder 2,228 8.9
Majority 9,764 38.8
Turnout 25,159 74.0
Conservative hold Swing +0.8

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Times House of Commons 1970
  2. ^ ‘LEACH, Prof. Donald Frederick’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 3 Aug 2017
  3. ^ The Times House of Commons 1959
  4. ^ The Times House of Commons 1970
  5. ^ "Professor Donald Leach was instrumental in success of QMC". www.scotsman.com. The Scotsman. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  6. ^ The Times House of Commons 1959
  7. ^ The Scotsman 2 March 2009
  8. ^ The Times House of Commons 1970
  9. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1973-1983, FWS Craig
  10. ^ "1961 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
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