David Rollo (July 1919 – 18 September 2006) was a Scottish nationalist political activist.
Born in Springburn, North Glasgow,[1] Rollo studied at Lenzie Academy[2] and played for Lenzie Rugby Club.[1] During World War II, he joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers attached to the 6th Airborne Division, and rose to become a sergeant. They reached Wismar which fell on May 1st 1945. In 1947, he gained admittance to the University of Glasgow to study electrical engineering and, although his time was interrupted by a year recuperating from tuberculosis, he eventually graduated BSc and spent the remainder of his career in the industry.[1]
Rollo joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) and was elected as its treasurer in 1953/4, serving until 1967.[3] This was a difficult time for the party's finances, and he often used his personal funds to pay the office secretary.[4]
Believing that the BBC was biased against Scottish nationalism,[5] Rollo used his electrical engineering experience worked with Alvaro Rossi to build a radio transmitter which broadcast sound on the BBC Television frequency. In 1956, they used this to launch "Radio Free Scotland", based in Rollo's home town of Kirkintilloch. It broadcast a mix of political comedy and patriotic music after the BBC finished at 11pm.[6] Rollo stood for the party at the 1959 general election in Hamilton, by which time he was head of the SNP's broadcasting committee.[2] After the SNP was not given the opportunity to make an election broadcast, he used the radio station to make party political broadcasts to Hamilton,[5] He stood but his campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, taking only 6.2% of the vote.[2] The radio was considered a success, and he built a similar transmitter for Plaid Cymru to use for "Radio Free Wales".[1]
Rollo stood again for the SNP in Glasgow Woodside at the 1970 general election, taking 8.4% of the vote,[7] then in Paisley at the February, October 1974 general elections, achieving 21% and then 33% of the vote, although he was not elected.[8] He stood a final time in 1979, but his vote share fell to 15.7%.[9]
Rollo remained active in the SNP, and in 2004 published Lockerbie: a bum rap?, exploring questions around the Lockerbie disaster.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "David Rollo - the quiet patriot", Scots Independent, November 2006
- ^ a b c The Times House of Commons 1959, p.209
- ^ "History of the SNP In 1953 he contested Kirkintilloch 2nd Ward polling 171 votes. Archived 8 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine", Aberdeen SNP
- ^ Gordon Wilson, SNP: The Turbulent Years, 1960-1990 : a History of the Scottish National Party, p.2
- ^ a b Kenneth Roy, The Invisible Spirit: A Life of Post-War Scotland 1945-75
- ^ "Kirkintilloch ‘pirate’ was a pioneer for independence on the airwaves", Kirkintilloch Herald, 14 July 2012
- ^ "UK General Election results 1970 Archived 16 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine", Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources
- ^ "David Rollo: as his local activists knew him Archived 16 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine", Scots Independent, 6 October 2006
- ^ "UK General Election results May 1979 Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine", Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources
- ^ "Lockerbie: a bum rap?", Airways: A Global Review of Commercial Flight, Vol. 9, pp.12, 67