Thomas Johnston

Tom Johnston was a prominent Scottish socialist and politician. He was a member of the Labour Party, Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling and Clackmannan, and Secretary of State for Scotland from 1941 to 1945.

A long-standing supporter of Home Rule, he was able to persuade Churchill of the need to counter the nationalist threat and created a Scottish Council of State and a Council on Industry as institutions to devolve power away from Whitehall.

Johnston's greatest legacy was the creation of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board which brought electric power to rural communities in the Highlands and Islands.

Publications include Our Scots Noble Families (1909) and A History of the Working Classes in Scotland (1920).