Scottish Catholic Observer

The former SNP MSP had been battling ill health for many years, revealing in 2002 that she had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the mid-1990s.

Ms MacDonald had been a member of the Scottish Parliament from its first day. Elected as an SNP list MSP for Lothian in 1999, she became an independent in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007 and 2011.

Though she often clashed with the Catholic Church over her attempts to legalise assisted suicide, she was personally respected by many in religious circles and maintained a long standing friendship with Cardinal Keith O’Brien, former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

John Deighan, the Parliamentary officer for Scotland’s bishops, said his thoughts and prayers were with her family.

“It will be a massive loss to them,” he said. “Having know her for 15 years, she supported many good causes and though we often disagreed on things she was one of the great characters of the Parliament.”

Her husband Jim Sillars said: “Today the brightest light in the Scottish political firmament has gone out. Her legacy will speak for itself.”

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