William Power

William Power (30 August 1873 – 13 June 1951) was a Scottish writer, journalist, and politician. He was the leader of the Scottish National Party from 1940 to 1942, and served as President of the Scottish Convention between 1942 and 1951.

Early life William Power was born in Woodlands, Glasgow, the eldest of the five children of William Power snr, a commission agent and ship master. He attended Woodside School in Glasgow, but had to leave at the age of fourteen as a result of his father's death at Gibraltar from fever, and found work as a bank clerk at the Royal Bank of Scotland. He continued to read and educate himself, and frequently contributed essays and articles to newspapers.

Writer and editor In 1907, after working as a bank clerk for twenty years, Power joined The Glasgow Herald as a full-time member of its editorial staff and remained there as essay and leader writer for nearly twenty years. However, the paper was not a commercial success, and he resigned as editor in 1929 to work for Associated Newspapers. He served as president of Scottish PEN from 1935 to 1938. He was also president of the Glasgow Esperanto Society, and the Scottish Ramblers' Federation. Power had come from nowhere to poll 37% (7,308 votes), coming second behind the Conservative Party, registering the SNP's largest percentage of a by-election vote to date. Power succeeded Andrew Dewar Gibb as the leader of the SNP. At the SNP Annual Conference in May 1942, Power was re-nominated by John MacCormick for the post of leader of the SNP, but he was narrowly defeated (33 votes to 29) by Douglas Young. This led MacCormick to convene a meeting of his supporters, which established Scottish Convention.

Power died in Clackmannan County Hospital, Alloa, in June 1951, aged 77. He was married in 1906 to Giulia Dick (1871–1922), and in 1924 to his second wife, Williamina Mills (1877–1946). There were no children of either marriage. The Culture of the Scots: its Past and Future, 1943