Editing Donald Dewar (section)

==Member of Parliament (1966–1970)==
Dewar was a member of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], and soon turned his sights towards being elected to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]]. In 1962, he was selected as the Labour candidate for the [[Aberdeen South (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen South]] constituency. In the 1964 general election, he failed to win the seat, but won it at the [[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966 general election]] at the age of 28 defeating [[Priscilla Tweedsmuir]] by 1,799 votes.<ref>Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 2007</ref>

In his maiden speech to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] on 4 May 1966,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ukpol.co.uk/donald-dewar-1966-maiden-speech-in-the-house-of-commons/ | title=Donald Dewar – 1966 Maiden Speech in the House of Commons – UKPOL.CO.UK | date=26 November 2015 }}</ref> Dewar spoke against a proposed increase on potato tax. His speech became his first political success: as the tax was repealed the following year. Dewar was made a member of the public accounts committee and in October 1967, he was appointed a [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to the [[President of the Board of Trade]], [[Anthony Crosland]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-10-01 |title=The Rt Hon Donald Dewar MA LLB MP MSP |url=https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps/donald-dewar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991001201243/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msps/biographies/g-ann.htm |archive-date=1 October 1999 |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=Scottish Parliament}}</ref>

Dewar remained in that position at the Department of Education until 1969, in which year he opposed a visit to Aberdeen by the Springbok rugby team and staged a silent vigil near the team's ground. In April 1968, he was proposed for a [[Minister of State]] position by [[Roy Jenkins]], but was not appointed. Dewar lost his constituency seat to the Conservative candidate [[Iain Sproat]] at the 1970 general election by over 1,000 votes.