Marian Veitch (8 July 1913 – 24 July 1973) was a British

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and politician. Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, Veitch attended Huntsman's Gardens School before working as an insurance clerk. She also became active in the Labour Party and, later, studied at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

.Cheryl Law, ''Women: A Modern Political Dictionary'', p.151''The Times Guide to the House of Commons: 1951'', p.72 In 1945, Veitch was elected to

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...

, serving while continuing to work as a clerk. During this period, she took particular interest in the education of disabled children. At the

1951 United Kingdom general election The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 ...

, she stood in

Leeds North West Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Sobel, of Labour Co-op. Boundaries 1950–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far He ...

, taking second place with 37.5% of the vote. She resigned from both the council and her work as a clerk in 1956, to take up the full-time post of Yorkshire District Organiser with the

National Union of General and Municipal Workers The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

. In 1960, she was promoted to become the union's national women's officer. Veitch joined the executive of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions in 1962, the only woman to serve on it in this period. She was also active in the International Metalworkers' Federation and served on the Food Standards Committee from 1965 to 1968. In 1965, Veitch married Donald Barnie, a lecturer at Hendon Polytechnic. She retired from her union posts in 1970.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veitch, Marian 1913 births 1973 deaths Alumni of Ruskin College British trade unionists Councillors in Sheffield Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British women trade unionists Women councillors in England