Former Highlands and Islands MSP and MEP Winnie Ewing dies aged 93
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Winnie Ewing, one of the icons of the Scottish independence movement, has died aged 93.
Ms Ewing will go down in history as the MSP who formally reopened the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as a Highlands and Islands SNP MSP.
She told the first session: "I want to begin with the words that I have always wanted either to say, or hear someone else say: 'The Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on March 25, 1707, is hereby reconvened.'”
Ms Ewing was well-known before that as her election as a Westminster MP in 1967 was a turning point in the nationalist cause and marked the beginning of the modern SNP's later electoral success.
She served not just in the UK and Scottish parliaments but also as a member for the Highlands and Islands in the European Parliament from 1975 to 1999 – where she became fondly known as Madame Ecosse.
