Media advisor who became influential in post-devolution politics dies

Died: September 25, 2024

Neil Mackinnon, who has died aged 54, was a former press officer for the Scottish Liberal Democrats and head of external affairs for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Amiable and thoughtful, his keen political judgment and dry wit made him a popular, respected and quietly influential figure in post-devolution Scottish politics.

Later, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, he is credited with helping the organisation return to strength after some highly public struggles in the early years of the new century.

Both before and after MSPs moved into the new parliament building at Holyrood, Neil seemed to know everyone. He was often to be seen chatting to MSPs and journalists, always with his trademark smile and while clutching an enormous black coffee which was refreshed several times a day. Colleagues remember his gentle Hebridean accent, infectious chuckle and the endless pinging of his Blackberry. He was available seven days a week, worked prodigiously hard, and was across every portfolio brief.

A succession of Scottish Lib Dem leaders sought his advice, and he was liked and highly thought of by journalists and political operatives from across the party spectrum.

Neil was reliably calm and reasoned in his briefings to journalists regardless of the hysteria that might rage around him. In the early days of Lib Dem and Labour coalition government, this quality helped ensure that any internal party difficulties or friction between the coalition partners did not take public focus away from the broader missions of government.

Subsequently, as head of external affairs and head of media for the Fringe, colleagues remember him bringing a fresh, and much valued, perspective. He had a deep knowledge of the festival having often spent his holidays in August going to shows. At his interview, the Fringe director Kath Mainland grilled him on his stamina, being sceptical that someone from outside the arts could cope with the demands of the Fringe in August, but Neil’s description of gruelling election campaigns convinced her.

During August, he would meet with his counterparts at the Book and International festivals, for mutual moral support and to compare notes. Given the demands of the role, these meetings usually took place in a pub in the early hours of the morning.

He arrived when the Fringe Society had been through a bruising period, culminating in the failure of a computerised ticketing system, and it needed rebuilding. Working with the senior team, he set about making the case to stakeholders for why the Fringe mattered so much. Mainland remembers: “We rebuilt a team, and we rebuilt trust within the Fringe community and Neil’s extreme kindness, good grace, humility and humour were a big part of how we did it.”

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At the Fringe, as in his previous role, he is remembered with great affection by younger staff for the time he took to mentor and support them.

Wherever he went, Neil’s unique approach to time-keeping became legendary: his colleagues and friends could never be entirely sure a meeting or dinner date would happen as scheduled. But it was never possible to remain frustrated with Neil for long. The last-minute changes of plan just made his friends value the occasions all the more when they did meet. Over dinner, board games, drinks, or at the theatre, Neil’s warmth, ideas and insight into people were at the heart of many a great evening.

Neil was born at Stornoway Hospital, Harris, to Mary Ann (Macdonald) and Donald Mackinnon. He was the first of three boys, being followed later by Duncan and John. Donald worked as a joiner for the council and Mary Ann became a care worker in a residential home for the elderly, and the family lived in a croft in Urgha. Neil had a love of animals, his faithful collie Moss being a particular favourite.

(Image: Holyrood)

As a child, Neil could usually be found absorbed in a book and he loved to watch news and current affairs programmes with his paternal grandfather, who lived with the family. Neil would ask his grandfather questions as they watched, this companionable chat sowing the seeds of Neil’s future career and passion.

After Sir E Scott school in Tarbert, Neil attended the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, staying over from Monday to Friday for his final two years of secondary. He loved English and modern studies but also had a flair for acting, appearing in numerous plays written by a local teacher and featuring local characters.

Neil went to university to study communications, attending Stirling for a year before completing his degree at Edinburgh, graduating in 1994. Afterwards, he took a job in a bank. Knowing this was not where his heart lay and having come to identify with the Liberal Democrats politically, he wrote to the party’s Scottish chief executive, offering to work for free. When the Scottish Liberal Democrats subsequently advertised internships, Neil secured one and showed flair for handling the media. This led to a paid position following the establishment of the new parliament.

He never looked back. After the Liberal Democrats and then seven years at the Fringe, he worked as a project manager first for HMRC and ultimately became a civil servant for the UK Government.

In 1994, while Neil was at university, his father Donald died aged 52 of septicaemia. Neil was and remained throughout his life a dutiful, loving son and brother, returning to the Highlands and islands to look after his family whenever they needed him.

This included caring for his brother John in Inverness after John was diagnosed with a terminal illness, from which he died in May 2019.

Neil Mackinnon died from a heart attack at his home in Fife. He is buried at Luskentyre cemetery, Harris, beside his father and brother. He is survived by his mother Mary Ann, brother Duncan, sister-in-law Nina, and is greatly missed by all of his family and many friends.

REBECCA MCQUILLAN