Indeed, the more ardent among McAllister’s supporters have sported tartan scarves and ribbons at his rallies. So just how Scottish is McAllister? His father, James Buchanan McAllister, was born in Glasgow in 1919. He fought for Germany’s liberation in the 51st Highland Division, and later returned with the Royal Signals Corps to West Berlin, where he met and married Mechthild. A German music teacher, she was asked to give voice lessons to British soldiers, to improve their speaking skills. They fell in love, but at the time marriage between Britons and Germans was frowned upon. The pair had a daughter out of wedlock in 1960, and went on to marry in 1964, as anti-German sentiment dispelled. They had another daughter, and David James McAllister was born in 1971.