ABBEY BOOKS in Wellmeadow St, Paisley, is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the death of Paisley-born MP Willie Gallacher — a key figure in the Red Clydeside movement and one of only five Communist MPs to ever win a seat in Parliament — with a special window display. 
  
Running until the end of August, the display will not only contain first editions of the politician’s own books and the architectural plans for a memorial statue but a whole raft of left-wing books including works by Lenin and Stalin.

A founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, he was born in Paisley on Christmas Day 1881, the son of a baker. After his father died when he was seven, it was left to his washerwoman mother to keep the family together. He first stood for election to  Parliament in 1922, was imprisoned for his political beliefs in 1925, and banned from entering the US. He was elected MP for West Fife in 1935, a seat he retained for 15 years. He regularly clashed with Winston Churchill in the House of Commons.

He is believed to be the first Paisley author to be published by Penguin, with The Case for Communism appearing in 1949. Penguin was so impressed with the content that it was the first book in a new series. A second book, Rise Like Lions, was published by Lawrence & Wishart in 1951. Abbey Books has signed copies of both books, a rare distinction at a time when book signing was far from the norm, and one of them is also signed by his wife Jean.

My father, who worked in the Clydebank shipyards, heard him speak and always spoke of him with awe.

Gallacher lived in a two-room council house in 68 Rowan St, Paisley, famously never had a phone, and was regularly contacted via the nearest public telephone booth bearing the number THO 3255.

On his death on August 12, 1965, a reputed 60,000 people lined the streets to witness the passing of his coffin while another 2,000 attended the funeral proper and flags flew at half mast. “Paisley has never seen anything like it,” said Provost Tom Barbour at the time.  

Queen’s Sculptor Alexander Stoddart was commissioned to make a statue of him – Tony Benn and Sir Alex Ferguson contributed to the fund, but the work has never yet been completed, and Paisley makes do with a more modest cairn to his memory. A bronze bust by Ian Homer Walters was commissioned by the TUC and is held by the People’s Palace museum in Glasgow.

We are also collecting personal memories of Willie Gallacher at the bookshop and will have a memorial book available for visitors.

Abbey Books, 21 Wellmeadow St, Paisley PA1 2EF, is open Tue-Sat 10.15am-5.15pm. For more information see: abbeybookspaisley.co.uk