Róisín Mary Bridget McLaren (born 12 October 1994) is a former national co-spokesperson of the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland. The party was founded in 1998. It c ...

(SSP).

Personal life

McLaren was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

before moving to

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

and then

West Calder West Calder ( sco, Wast Cauder, gd, Caladar an Iar) is a village in the council area of West Lothian, Scotland, located four miles west of Livingston, West Lothian, Livingston. Historically it is within the County of Midlothian. The village was ...

, where she spent most of her childhood. Her great grandfather was a shale miner and a member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

in West Calder. Her father was a member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

and later

Democratic Left Scotland Democratic Left Scotland ''(na Deamocrataich Chli na Alba)'' is a non-party political organisation, membership of which is open to both those who belong to political parties and those who do not. DLS has members and supporters in the Scottish Gree ...

. Her mother is a former member of the Socialist Workers Party. Her family were activists for a "Yes, Yes" vote in the 1979 referendum on Scottish devolution. McLaren attended St. Kentigern’s Academy before receiving a “foundationer” place at

George Heriot’s School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staf ...

. She went on to study Sustainable Environmental Management at

Scotland's Rural College Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) is a public land based research institution focused on agriculture and life sciences. Its history stretches back to 1899 with the establishment of the West of Scotland Agricultural College and its current organis ...

. McLaren has an interest in

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

Political career

In 2013, she joined Edinburgh University Scottish Nationalist Association and became the society's president. McLaren was a prominent organiser of the Yes campaign on Edinburgh University campus. In 2014, she took part in campus debate on

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, urging the audience to use the momentum for the Yes campaign to "create a socially responsible country for future generations to come". McLaren joined the Scottish Socialist Party in 2017. She attended the

Scottish Independence Convention The Scottish Independence Convention (SIC) is a cross-party, non-partisan group with the aim of bringing together pro-independence parties, groups and organisations to promote the concept and ideals of an independent Scotland. The current conven ...

conference "Build: Bridges to Indy" and, interviewed there for the

Scottish Socialist Voice The ''Scottish Socialist Voice'' is a fortnightly political newspaper in Scotland, published by the Scottish Socialist Party. History Established in November 1996, the ''Voice'' started life as the newspaper of Scottish Militant Labour, before b ...

, said that: "if independence is about anything, it has to be about improving the lives of working class people." On 2 June 2018, McLaren chaired a session at the Connolly150 conference - an international conference on

James Connolly James Connolly ( ga, Séamas Ó Conghaile; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. Born to Irish parents in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, Connolly left school for working life at the a ...

- which brought together speakers from across the world to discuss and celebrate James Connolly's life and ideas. In November 2017, McLaren wrote to the Guardian to highlight the issue of zero-hours contracts and the SSP's policy of a £10 minimum wage. In December 2017, McLaren wrote a joint article with the current SSP National Secretary Hugh Cullen, on radical pro-independence blog Conter which emphasised the need for an organised pro-independence socialist party. On 10 November 2018, McLaren was elected national co-spokesperson of the Scottish Socialist Party, beating

Frances Curran Frances Curran (born 21 May 1961) is a former co-chair of the Scottish Socialist Party. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West of Scotland region from 2003 to 2007. Political career A former member of the Labour Party ...

. McLaren was re-elected against Curran again at the 2019 National Conference. She was appointed to lead the SSP's

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

action group. At the 2021 SSP conference she stood down from the SSP executive, because of work and family commitments. She was replaced as female national spokesperson by Natalie Reid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Roisin 1994 births Living people Scottish Socialist Party national spokespersons Politicians from Edinburgh 21st-century Scottish women Scottish women in politics Scottish ecologists Women ecologists Climate activists People from Livingston, West Lothian Scotland's Rural College alumni People educated at George Heriot's School