Katherine Patricia Irene Adams, Baroness Adams of Craigielea (born 27 December 1947) is a Scottish

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

peer who served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Paisley North from 1990 to 2005.

Early life

Adams was educated at Stanley Green High School in Paisley, marrying

Allen Adams Allender Steele Adams (16 February 1946 – 5 September 1990), known as Allen Adams, was a Scottish Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley from 1979 to 1983 and Paisley North from 1983 to 1990. Adams was bo ...

in February 1968 with whom she had three children. In 1970 she was on Paisley Town Council and by 1972 was appointed

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. In 1974, as Katherine Adams, she became a councillor for Stanley Ward of

Renfrew District Council Renfrew District ( gd, Sgìre Rinn Friù) was one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland, which existed between 1975 and 1996.Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. ...

succeeding her husband,

, who had stepped down from the council following his election as MP. She successfully stood for reelection in 1982, retiring in 1986.

Parliamentary career

Her husband, Allen Adams, had been MP for Paisley North until his death on 5 September 1990 at the age of 44 from a brain haemorrhage. Irene, who had served as his secretary during his time as MP, stood in the subsequent by-election and despite a swing to the SNP, went on to win with 44% of the vote. She successfully defended the seat in the next three General Elections. As an MP, she had been outspoken on the issue of drug abuse and gang violence and received death threats. Media sources speculated that the 1999 torching of her car was as a result of this work. Despite being loyal to the Labour government of the day, Adams was seen as clearly on its left wing including being against the Iraq war, a

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

and one of the more pro-

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

Scottish Labour members. Within the Labour party, it was alleged that she had been the target of "bad mouthing" by fellow Labour MP Tommy Graham, which lead to Graham's expulsion from the party in 1999. Adams was persuaded to stand down with the promise of a peerage, in order to allow sitting West Renfrewshire MP

Jim Sheridan Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish playwright and filmmaker. Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed two critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, ''My Left Foot'' and ''In the Name of the Father'', and later directed the film ...

to be selected to fight in the May 2005 election for the newly merged seat of

Paisley and Renfrewshire North Paisley and Renfrewshire North is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election, replacing most of Paisley North and Renfrewshire West. Constituency Profile Th ...

. Following the General Election, on 13 May 2005 it was announced that she would be created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baroness Adams of Craigielea, of Craigielea in the County of

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

, on 28 June.

Peerage and expenses

Despite no longer being a member of the House of Commons, Adams along with 13 other MPs was the subject of a court case over the release of information into parliamentary expenses. As a result of the widespread expenses scandal within parliament, she was ultimately asked pay over £50,000 which she initially refused to do. Adams is not noted for being an active member of the House of Lords, and attracted criticism for claiming expenses despite having only made a single contribution, her maiden speech, between May 2005 and October 2010. She currently lives in a converted mill in Paisley.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Irene 1947 births Living people Scottish Labour MPs Adams of Craigielea Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Paisley constituencies Scottish Labour councillors Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Politicians from Paisley, Renfrewshire 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20th-century Scottish politicians 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians Women councillors in Scotland