Born in Wishaw, McAlpine studied at Dalziel High School, then graduated in engineering from the Royal College of Science and Technology in Glasgow.
He was a founder member of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and was prominent in the Committee of 100.
Later, in 1970, he set up Chieftain Industries with William Wolfe to make domestic heaters and later heat pumps.
[2][3] McAlpine also served as a Vice Chairman of the SNP, with responsibility for Administration, in the 1970s, and again in the early 1980s.
He opposed the restructuring of local government in Scotland in the mid-1990s, but won his seat on the new South Lanarkshire Council until he died unexpectedly in 2006.