John Robertson (Scottish Labour Party founder)
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John Robertson (born 1913, died 1987) was a member of the British House of Commons for the Labour Party representing Paisley for 18 years between 1961 and 1979, (for the Scottish Labour Party (SLP) between 1976 and 1979). On 18th January 1976 he, along with another Labour MP, Jim Sillars and Labour's senior Scottish researcher, Alex Neil, officially established the Scottish Labour Party (SLP).
The formation of the SLP was prompted as a left-wing split from the mainstream Labour Party over distrust about how strong the then Labour government's stated commitment to Scottish devolution was in reality. Robertson was a leading figure in the SLP, along with Sillars, but unlike Sillars he stood down at the 1979 general election, deciding not to contest his Paisley seat. The Scottish Labour Party was officially disbanded in 1981, after failing to win any seats at the 1979 general election.