it stuck. By 1995 she had become Britain's longest serving MEP. She had been a former Vice President of the European Radical Alliance which included French, Guyanese, Flemish, Luxembourg, Italian, Corsican and Spanish (Canary Islands) MEPs. In 1999, she did not stand for the European Parliament, instead becoming a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) in the first session of the Scottish Parliament, representing the Highlands and Islands. As the oldest qualified member, it was her duty to preside over the opening of the Scottish Parliament, a session she opened with the statement: "The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25th day of March in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened". She sat as a member on the European Committee, then the Public Petitions Committee. During the controversy that arose in the early years of the Scottish Parliament surrounding proposals to repeal Clause 28 (a law banning the active promotion of homosexuality in schools), she joined her son Fergus Ewing in abstaining, although her daughter in law Margaret Ewing supported repeal as did the majority of her party's MSPs. In June 2001, having turned 72 years old, she announced that she would retire from Parliament at the end of the session. In January 2003, her husband, Stewart Ewing, died in a fire accident. He had been active with her in politics for many years, and had himself served as an SNP councillor for the Summerston area in Glasgow, gaining the seat of Dick Dynes, the leader of the Labour Group on Glasgow District Council in 1977, a result described by The Glasgow Herald as "an absolute sensation". Later in 2003 she stood down from being an MSP, although she continued to serve as the SNP's President, a position she held for many years. On 15 July 2005, she announced she would be stepping down as President of the Scottish National Party at its September Conference, bringing to an end her 38-year career in representative politics. Her son Fergus Ewing serves as SNP MSP, as did his wife Margaret Ewing, and her daughter Annabelle Ewing, who was also an MP between 2001 and 2005. First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon said that Ewing had given her "hugely valuable advice" on public speaking, and that Ewing had given her some important advice as a young woman in politics, namely "Stand your ground and believe in yourself" and "a more vibrant, colourful, dynamic, passionate,