Robert McTaggart (2 November 1945 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central, representing the Labour Party.
He also took a particular interest in international affairs, being a supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization and visiting Libya, North Korea and the Soviet Union.
[2] The campaign he organised won the seat, but McTaggart's friend Thomas McMillan, MP died from head injuries sustained when he fell from a bus in Parliament Square in April 1980.
[7] The constituency was the smallest in Britain and had some of the worst economic problems, and when McTaggart won with a majority of 2,780 over the Scottish National Party on a low turnout, it was regarded as a poor result.
[8] Making his maiden speech on 10 July 1980 in an opposition debate on industry, McTaggart attacked the Conservative government's economic policy, claiming that non-intervention "fanned the flames of unemployment in Glasgow" and had caused the loss of 300 jobs each day.
[10] McTaggart was one of 33 Labour MPs to vote against the Government in a debate on the Falklands War in May 1982, defying party instructions to abstain.
[12] McTaggart faced a reselection battle with Helen McElhone who was the MP for Glasgow Queen's Park which made up more than half of the new seat.
[1] McTaggart was one of a group of some 30 Labour left-wingers who mounted a demonstration on the floor of the House of Commons in November 1984 against the Government's reduction in benefits to the wives of strikers; the Speaker was forced to adjourn the sitting.
[20] He criticised the Scottish Office minister Michael Ancram for calling on local authorities to remove asbestos from buildings but refusing to give them the money to do so.
[3] In the deputy leadership election of 1988, McTaggart endorsed John Prescott rather than the further left Socialist Campaign Group candidate Eric Heffer.