Protestant Action Society

{{short description|Municipal political party in Edinburgh, Scotland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}

{{Infobox political party

| name = Protestant Action Society

| logo =

| colorcode =

| leader =

| president =

| chairman =

| general_secretary = John Cormack

| first_secretary =

| secretary_general =

| presidium =

| secretary =

| spokesperson =

| foundation = 1933

| ideology = Religious conservatism
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Irish immigration

| religion = Protestantism

| headquarters =

| international =

| website =

| country = Scotland

}}

The Protestant Action Society was a political party in Edinburgh active in the 1930s. It was founded by John Cormack in 1933 and had elected nine members to the Edinburgh Corporation in 1936 with 31 per cent of the vote.Page 51, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cTRDHNY_xGQC&lpg=PA51 Protestant Political Parties: A Global Survey]{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13122841.Tom_Gallagher__Divided_Scotland___Ethnic_Friction_And_Christian_Crisis__Argyll_Publishing_/|title=Tom Gallagher: Divided Scotland - Ethnic Friction And Christian Crisis|last=Bell|first=Ian|date=14 September 2013|work=Glasgow Herald|accessdate=21 May 2017}}

In June 1935 the party organised protests which involved disturbances in Waverley Market{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/1079621|title=A Very Edinburgh Riot: The John Cormack Phenomenon|accessdate=21 May 2017|last1=Ritchie |first1=David }}{{rp|23-25}} and then what has been called "the Morningside Riot" in Canaan Lane when a crowd of around 20,000 Protestant Action supporters stoned and jeered 10,000 attendees at a Eucharistic Congress.{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/the-other-side-of-morningside-1-997837|title=The other side of Morningside|work=The Scotsman|accessdate=21 May 2017}}{{rp|29-31}}

Although often compared to the fascist movements active at the time, the society physically attacked Blackshirt meetings in Edinburgh due to the British Union of Fascists support for a United Ireland.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall | url-access=registration | quote=esther henry edinburgh. | title=Glasgow: The Uneasy Peace : Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819–1914 | publisher=Manchester University Press | author=Gallagher, T. | year=1987 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall/page/165 165] | isbn=9780719023965}} The party emerged at a time when other similar movements were arising in other parts of Scotland, such as the similar Glasgow based Scottish Protestant League, and the Scottish Democratic Fascist Party.

One of the councillors was the Jewish antique dealer Esta Henry who was elected to one of the Canongate wards in 1936.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall | url-access=registration | quote=esther henry edinburgh. | title=Glasgow: The Uneasy Peace : Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819–1914 | publisher=Manchester University Press | author=Gallagher, T. | year=1987 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall/page/165 165] | isbn=9780719023965}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x55nAAAAMAAJ&q=%22esther+henry%22 | title=Readings 1850 to the Present Volume 4 of Modern Scottish History 1707 to the Present | publisher=Tuckwell Press, in association with the Open University in Scotland and the University of Dundee |author1=Cooke, Anthony |author2=Donnachie, Ian |name-list-style=amp | year=1998 | pages=186 | isbn=9781862320833}}

Cormack tried to encourage the Orange Order in Scotland to join in his movement, but with so little success that he left the movement in 1939 and was not readmitted until the late 1950s.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall | url-access=registration | quote=esther henry edinburgh. | title=Glasgow: The Uneasy Peace : Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819–1914 | publisher=Manchester University Press | author=Gallagher, T. | year=1987 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall/page/165 165] | isbn=9780719023965}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x55nAAAAMAAJ&q=%22esther+henry%22 | title=Readings 1850 to the Present Volume 4 of Modern Scottish History 1707 to the Present | publisher=Tuckwell Press, in association with the Open University in Scotland and the University of Dundee |author1=Cooke, Anthony |author2=Donnachie, Ian |name-list-style=amp | year=1998 | pages=186 | isbn=9781862320833}}

At its peak the party had 8,000 members.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall | url-access=registration | quote=esther henry edinburgh. | title=Glasgow: The Uneasy Peace : Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819–1914 | publisher=Manchester University Press | author=Gallagher, T. | year=1987 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/glasgowuneasypea00gall/page/165 165] | isbn=9780719023965}}