Inverness, West Ross-shire and Skye MP Angus MacDonald, who beat the odds to deny SNP a Westminster seat, revels in last great job of his life

In January 2023, the SNP were still riding high and many of their candidates throughout Scotland who had swept to victory in 2019 looked virtually unassailable. And none more so than the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey MP Drew Hendry, who held a majority of more than 10,000.

But a new challenger was about to enter the political fray. Angus MacDonald looked at the odds on him being elected. They were 25-1 against - and no one was placing a bet.

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And yet just 18 months later, the rank outsider from Arisaig would become the MP for the newly created constituency of Inverness, West Ross-shire and Skye, toppling Drew Hendry after one of the most determined and costly campaigns in Scottish and British political history. It was the ultimate triumph for Angus MacDonald and his Liberal Democrat supporters, and a shattering blow for Drew Hendry and the SNP.

Six months on from his victory and at the first time of meeting him it's still the first question that springs to mind: How did he pull it off?

There is no single answer to that but MacDonald gave the kind of succinct response you might expect from a man who has enjoyed a successful and lucrative business career. "The SNP had been an extraordinarily well-funded organisation for more than 15 years and for the first time they met someone who could match them in that regard," he said.

Almost from the month he was chosen as a candidate, election material began landing on doormats across a wide area, with the distribution by his Lib Dem supporters of tens of thousands of copies of "The Highlander", an eight-page publication with pictures of a beaming Angus MacDonald and articles explaining why it would be such an excellent idea to vote for him.

In many parliamentary elections nowadays some candidates are lucky if they manage to get out a single scrappy leaflet a week before election day. MacDonald and his team began to unleash a "vote for Angus" deluge well over a year before an election was anywhere in sight. And "The Highlander" kept on coming. I lost count of how many updated copies I received. His campaign was accompanied by extensive newspaper advertising. And if anyone managed to miss that they could see his face plastered over giant hoardings and billboards at different locations.

All this needed money and motivation, plenty of both. In monetary terms, MacDonald says he personally funded around 20 per cent of the overall campaign cost, with the rest being contributed by friends and sponsors across Scotland. He did not outline the total bill, but it was not only "a match" for anything the SNP could produce - it left them trailing far behind.

The candidate himself provided the motivation for a small army of highly active supporters. Household campaign material does not deliver itself, and at times there were more than 100 Lib Dem footsoldiers going from door to door.

"It was a terrific campaign - I call it The Great Campaign - conducted in a hugely positive atmosphere," he said. "If people like you and they trust you they will get involved. We did 20,000 handwritten envelopes. There are 35,000 households in the constituency and before the election was called I and others had knocked on 32,000 doors. I had a track record in delivery and my donors didn't feel they were throwing their money away, they really believed I could win. Farmers, businessmen and women, these were people I knew very well and they were happy to support me financially. It was the best-funded campaign in Scotland," he said.

The new MP, in open-necked shirt, pullover and heavy duty winter jacket, is a likeable and engaging man. Fifty years ago I interviewed his Liberal predecessor Russell Johnston when I started out as a young reporter in 1975. Since then there have been only three other MPs representing the constituency where, with changing boundaries, Inverness is the main population centre. What's also notable is that David Stewart, Danny Alexander and Drew Hendry were all either younger or much younger than the latest incumbent.

Angus MacDonald is 62 and he's up every morning at five to start work. On longer working days - whether at Westminster or in the Highlands - he might not see his bed again till after 10pm. He retains a depth of stamina for a very heavy workload which begins to diminish for many people as they enter their 60s.

His new lifestyle means that some weeks he might not see much of his wife either. "Sometimes I'm only home one night a week," he says. "But it's a total privilege to be doing the job and we adjust." He has two of his five staff based in Inverness, where the population makes up 62 per cent of his constituency. "There's a great deal to attend to and my team work very hard."

And what of his political rivals and the SNP in particular? Drew Hendry has now left the political scene and his successor has nothing to say about that. They had little interaction during the campaign, or at the election count, which Hendry left early due to a prolonged delay of the announcement. "We didn't make any of the contest personal," says MacDonald.

The SNP looked almost down and out after they lost most of their MPs in the July election. Prior to that - and MacDonald acknowledges it as an obvious factor in his success - they had been besieged by top-level arrrests and potential scandal. They had also alienated many people with an excessive focus on gender issues, and alienated many others with a failure to make any progress on independence. Their election defeat was widely anticipated although the July collapse in support that took place was more spectacular than many had imagined.

"John Swinney and Kate Forbes have steadied the ship but they are absolutely hammered by the hospital waiting lists and the failings in Scottish education," said the MP. "The ferries fiasco, their lack of progress on the A9, it all mounts up against them." He thinks both the SNP and Labour will be vulnerable in next year's Holyrood elections. "As Liberal Democrats we are well placed to make further gains and perhaps hold the balance of power."

Right on cue the first edition of his latest publication - renamed "The Inverness, Skye and Wester Ross Herald" - landed on my doormat the day before I met him. Another big distribution effort was under way.

The front page was emblazoned with the headline: "Renewable boom bonanza!" Angus MacDonald is passionate about the substance behind the accompanying report. "Wind turbines and hydro and pump storage sites connected by huge pylons are covering the Highlands. Scotland already generates more electricity than it needs with massive net exports to other parts of the UK. What is in it for us? My campaign at Westminster is for a new law to require five per cent of all renewables to be paid to local communities."

He adds: "If I could deliver on one thing - and there are plenty of other targets also - it would be that. It could bring in hundreds of millions of pounds and transform the Highlands." His eyes shone with enthusiasm for what he believes is "a mega, mega opportunity".

Angus MacDonald has not been lacking in enthusiasm throughout a varied and colourful life. He served with the Queen's Own Highlanders in the Falklands, wrote four novels, created an award-winning cinema, and did very well in business. Now as an MP, he says: "I want to do my very best for my constituents. And for a 62-year-old, what a great last job in my life this is."

After a lengthy chat I made way for someone else who had come along to see him at the warming coffee shop where we met. On a freezing winter day, and not many years older than him, I was just glad to get back to the home comforts of the fireside. Angus MacDonald, no doubt still brimming with energy, had yet another late and long working day ahead.

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