Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness
Scottish politician (1954–2026)
James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, (25 August 1954 – 29 January 2026) was a Scottish politician who served as a Liberal Democrat life peer in the House of Lords from 2007 until his death in 2026. He had previously served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 1999 to 2005, and during that time was twice acting First Minister, in 2000, in the aftermath of Donald Dewar's death, and in 2001, following Henry McLeish's resignation.
Wallace was Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 1992 to 2005 and Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords from 2013 to 2016.
Wallace served as a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland from 1983 to 2001 and a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Orkney from 1999 to 2007. He was Advocate General for Scotland from 2010 to 2015. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2021 to 2022 and for the duration of this appointment, he gave up his political affiliation.
Early life and education
Wallace was born in Annan in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, to John and Grace Wallace, on 25 August 1954, and grew up there. His father, an accountant, was an elder for 64 years in the local Church of Scotland congregation, Annan Old Parish Church. He was involved in both the Boys Brigade and Scripture Union groups. He professed faith and formally joined the church while a student in 1973.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness” is scottish politician (1954–2026). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Wallace, Baron and Tankerness, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “scottish politician (1954–2026)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q333807. VIAF identifies the subject as 26800966. The Library of Congress control number is no2005078236. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1954, 2026, 2007 and 1999.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.