1980 in Scotland

Events from the year 1980 in Scotland.

Incumbents

 * Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – George Younger

Law officers

 * Lord Advocate – Lord Mackay of Clashfern
 * Solicitor General for Scotland – Nicholas Fairbairn

Judiciary

 * Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Emslie
 * Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Wheatley
 * Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Elliott

Events

 * 16 April – Glasgow Subway reopened to passengers after a 3-year modernisation project.
 * 1 May – Scottish District local elections result in big gains for the Labour Party.
 * 7 May – Aberdeen F.C. secures the Scottish Football League Premier Division championship.
 * 26 June – The Glasgow Central by-election is held, with Labour retaining the seat despite a 14% swing to the Scottish National Party.
 * 1 August – The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 receives Royal Assent.
 * 28 August – First clinically useful image of a patient's internal tissues using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is obtained using a full-body scanner built by a team led by John Mallard at the University of Aberdeen.
 * 4–5 September – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to visit Shetland.
 * 13 September – Hercules, a bear which had gone missing on the island of Benbecula while filming a Kleenex advertisement, is found.
 * 6 October – West Highland Way opened as the first of the official Long Distance Routes for walkers in Scotland.
 * 9 October – Gloagtrotter of Perth, trading as GT Coaches, begins operation of an express coach service from Dundee to London as The Stage Coach, origin of the Stagecoach Group.
 * October – Albion Motors' Scotstoun works closes and manufacture of complete vehicles (on Viking VK bus chassis) is moved to Leyland in England.
 * 13 November – Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 which would decriminalise private homosexual acts between two consenting persons aged over 21 in Scotland passes at Westminster. It would take effect on 1 February 1981.

Births

 * 5 January – Greg McHugh, television actor and writer
 * 5 February – Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats (UK)
 * 2 April – Adam Fleming, television journalist
 * 30 April – Sam Heughan, actor
 * 12 May – Andrew Abercromby, biomedical engineer
 * 6 July – Kenny Deuchar, footballer
 * 27 August – Caroline Brown, lawn bowler
 * 15 September – Chris Clark, footballer
 * 19 August – Darius Campbell Danesh, singer-songwriter and actor (died 2022 in the United States)
 * 12 October – Lesley Paterson, triathlete, screenwriter and producer
 * 26 October – Khalid Abdalla, actor
 * 20 November – Malachy Tallack, journalist and folk rock musician
 * 13 December – Gary Innes, piano-accordionist, shinty player and BBC broadcaster
 * Kerry Hudson, writer

Deaths

 * 19 February – Bon Scott, Australian rock singer (born 1946)
 * 29 February – Margaret Morris, choreographer (born 1891 in London)
 * May – Isla Cameron, actress and singer (born 1930)
 * 23 June – John Laurie, actor (born 1897)
 * 6 December – Margot Bennett, crime novelist (born 1912)
 * 13 December – R. D. Low, comics writer and editor (born 1895)
 * Hector MacAndrew, fiddler (born 1903)

The arts

 * 19 February – Scottish Television begins to air the soap opera Take the High Road.
 * Spring – Bearsden post-punk band Orange Juice release Falling and Laughing, the first release on the Postcard Records label.
 * June – Peter Maxwell Davies's The Yellow Cake Revue (including the piano interlude "Farewell to Stromness") is premiered at the Stromness Hotel as part of the St Magnus Festival.
 * Alexander Moffat paints Poets' Pub.
 * Buxton Orr composes A Caledonian Suite.