Willie McRae

Willie McRae (18 May 1923 – 7 April 1985) was a Scottish lawyer, orator, naval officer, politician and anti-nuclear campaigner. In the Second World War he served in the British Army and then the Royal Indian Navy. He supported the Indian independence movement and for much of his life was active in the Scottish National Party (SNP).

McRae, who struggled with alcoholism and depression, died by suicide in 1985 after crashing his car in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands, shooting himself in the head with a revolver. McRae's death spawned conspiracy theories among Scottish Nationalists that he had been assassinated by the British security services. These conspiracy theories were rejected by his family. Two plays related to McRae's life were staged in 2014, which prompted renewed interest in his death and the establishment of a privately-funded "Justice For Willie" campaign. The campaign reported in 2016 that it had been unable to find any evidence to undermine the official suicide verdict.