Rosemary McKenna ('' née'' Harvey; born 8 May 1941) is a Scottish Labour Party politician, who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2010. She was elected 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 o ...

(MP) for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth at the 1997 general election, and held that seat until its abolition in boundary changes for the 2005 general election. She was then elected as the MP for the new Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, from which she stood down at the next election, in 2010.

Early life

Born to the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Cornelius Harvey and a Scottish mother, Susan, she went to St Augustine's RC Secondary School on ''Liddesdale Road'' in Milton,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. From 1958–65, she worked as a secretary. She joined the Labour Party in 1966 when she moved to Cumbernauld. She studied at the

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Notre Dame College of Education, receiving a Diploma in Primary Education in 1974. She was a primary school teacher from 1974–94 before becoming a local councillor and eventual Provost of the former Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District Council.

Parliamentary career

McKenna was first elected in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

to represent the former Cumbernauld and Kilsyth seat, which she retained at the 2001 election. The seat was abolished for the 2005 general election and she contested the new Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East constituency, winning with a 1.1% swing against her to the Scottish National Party. She retired at the 2010 general election. She was responsible for chairing the Labour Party's vetting procedure for candidates for the first election for the Scottish Parliament. This process saw many of the more left-oriented candidates rejected, including

Dennis Canavan Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire from 1974 to 1983), first as a member of the Labour Party, and then as an I ...

, Ian Davidson,

Michael Connarty Michael Connarty (born 3 September 1947) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Linlithgow and Falkirk East from 2005 until 2015, and Falkirk East (1992–2005). Parliamentary career He unsuccess ...

, all of whom were sitting Members of Parliament at the time, as well as

Tommy Sheppard Thomas or Tommy Sheppard may refer to: * Thomas Sheppard (cricketer) (1873–1954), English cricketer * Thomas Sheppard (MP) (1766–1858), Whig (and then Conservative) Member of Parliament (MP) for Frome *Sir Thomas Sheppard, 1st Baronet (died 182 ...

, a former Assistant General Secretary of the Labour Party in Scotland.

Personal life

She married James McKenna. They have three sons and one daughter.

References

External links

*
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Rosemary McKenna MP

Voting Record at the Public Whip
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Rosemary 1941 births Living people Scottish Labour MPs Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Politicians from Glasgow Provosts in Scotland Scottish people of Irish descent UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Women provosts in Scotland Scottish Labour councillors 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20th-century Scottish politicians 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians