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

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an Scottish independence, independent Socialism, socialist Scottish Scottish republicanism, republic. The party was fou ...

(SSP) from 2018 to 2021.

Personal life

McLaren was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

before moving to Livingston and then

West Calder West Calder (, ) is a village in the council area of West Lothian, Scotland, located four miles west of Livingston. Historically it is within the County of Midlothian. The village was an important centre in the oil shale industry in the 19th a ...

, 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 Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

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 CPGB ...

and later Democratic Left Scotland. 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 in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, before receiving a “foundationer” place at

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

. She went on to study Sustainable Environmental Management at

Scotland's Rural College Scotland's Rural College (SRUC; ) is a Public university#United Kingdom, public land based college, land based Research university, research institution focused on agriculture and life sciences. Its history stretches back to 1899 with the estab ...

. 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 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 status of ...

, 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 conference "Build: Bridges to Indy" and, interviewed there for the Scottish Socialist Voice, 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 (; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was a Scottish people, Scottish-born Irish republicanism, Irish republican, socialist, and trade union leader, executed for his part in the Easter Rising, 1916 Easter Rising against British rule i ...

- 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 (Scottish Parliament electoral region), West of Scotland region from 2003 to 2007 ...

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

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

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 British women ecologists British climate activists People from Livingston, West Lothian Alumni of Scotland's Rural College People educated at George Heriot's School