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Maria Fyfe

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Maria Fyfe
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Maryhill
In office
11 June 1987 – 14 May 2001
Preceded byJames Craigen
Succeeded byAnn McKechin
Personal details
Born
Catherine Maria O'Neill

(1938-11-25)25 November 1938
Glasgow, Scotland
Died3 December 2020(2020-12-03) (aged 82)
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyLabour (1960–76; 1977–2020)
SLP (1976–77)
Spouse
James Joseph Fyfe
​
​
(m. 1964; died 1986)​
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Strathclyde
OccupationPolitician; educator

Catherine Mary "Maria" Fyfe (née O'Neill; 25 November 1938 – 3 December 2020),[1] known as Maria Fyfe, was a Scottish politician and educator who served as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill from 1987 to 2001. She was Deputy Shadow Minister for Women from 1988 to 1991, Convener of the Scottish Group of Labour MPs from 1991 to 1992 and front bench spokesperson for Scotland from 1992 to 1995. Fyfe campaigned for 50-50 representation of women in the Scottish Parliament.

Background

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Catherine Maria O'Neill was born on 25 November 1938 in Glasgow, where she grew up in Gorbals, the daughter of James O'Neill, a clerk, tram driver and shopworker, and Margaret Lacey, a former shop assistant.[2][3] She briefly spent time in Ireland during the Second World War before returning to Glasgow, and was educated at Notre Dame High School in the city.[3] In 1964, she married James Fyfe; they had two sons.[2] She returned to education as a mature student, studying Economic History at the University of Strathclyde and graduating in 1975 with a BA (Hons).[1] She worked as a senior lecturer in the Trade Union Studies Unit at Glasgow Central College of Commerce from 1978 to 1987.

Early political career

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Fyfe became a member of the Labour Party in 1960.[1] She and her husband James, a journalist with the Glasgow Herald,[4] left Labour to join Jim Sillars' breakaway pro-devolution Scottish Labour Party (SLP) in 1976, but the internal strife that plagued the new venture led to her expulsion and return to her former party within a year.[5][6][7] In 1980 she was a Labour candidate in that year's Glasgow District Council election, where she took the Blairdardie ward from the Scottish National Party with a majority of 763 votes.[8] On the council, she served firstly as Vice-Convener of the Finance Committee (1980–84) and then as Convener of the Personnel Committee until 1987, when she was elected to Parliament.[9] She was a member of Labour's Scottish Executive Committee from 1981 to 1988.[1]

Parliamentary career

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At the 1987 general election, Fyfe was returned to Parliament as Member for Glasgow Maryhill, a position she occupied until the 2001 general election. She served as Deputy Shadow Minister for Women from 1988 to 1991, Convener of the Scottish Group of Labour MPs from 1991 to 1992, and front bench spokesperson for Scotland from 1992 to 1995.[9] She did not stand for reelection at the 2001 General Election and was succeeded by Ann McKechin. Fyfe was awarded an honorary D.Univ. by the University of Glasgow in 2002.[10]

She was quoted as saying: "I am proudest of having been involved in the 50-50 campaign to ensure that the Scottish Parliament started life with an almost equal representation of women, up there with the Scandinavian countries".[11] She was also involved in opposing the poll tax in both England and Scotland, and launched a campaign against employee blacklisting in 1988.[7] After standing down Fyfe continued to campaign politically including on the issue of homelessness. She also chaired the campaign to erect a statue of Glasgow councillor and rent strike campaigner Mary Barbour.[9]

Later life

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Fyfe was interviewed in 2012 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project.[12] She wrote two autobiographies, the first entitled A Problem Like Maria describing her work as an MP, and a second book Singing in the Streets, about her life growing up in the Gorbals in the aftermath of the Second World War, as well as her earlier political career.[9] She also wrote another political book, Women Saying No: Making a Positive Case Against Independence, in advance of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.[1]

Fyfe had two sons and four grandchildren. On 3 December 2020, she died at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital from COVID-19 during the pandemic, aged 82.[2][13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "FYFE, (Catherine) Maria". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 2023 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c Henderson, Ann (2024). "Fyfe [née O'Neill], Catherine Mary [Maria] (1938–2020), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381924. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ a b Roth, Andrew; Roth, Terry; Gifford, Manda; Reid, Andrew (1989). Parliamentary profiles (2nd ed.). London: Parliamentary Profiles. pp. 510–511. ISBN 0-900582-26-X. OCLC 20315507.
  4. ^ Drucker, H. M., Breakaway: The Scottish Labour Party (Edinburgh: EUSPB, 1978), p. 21.
  5. ^ Fyfe, Maria, "Letters page", The Herald, 28 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Maria Fyfe, Left-wing Scots Labour MP who fought for women inside and outside politics – obituary", Daily Telegraph, 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Maria Fyfe obituary", The Times, 5 December 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  8. ^ J. M. Bochel; D. T. Denver. "The Scottish District Elections 1980" (PDF). p. 52.
  9. ^ a b c d Davidson, Gina (3 December 2020). "Former Scottish Labour MP and 'pioneer' Maria Fyfe dies aged 82". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  10. ^ "University of Glasgow :: University news :: June 2002". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Fyfe, Maria | Aristotle | guardian.co.uk Politics". Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
  12. ^ "Maria Fyfe interviewed by Dean White". British Library Sound Archive. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Former Glasgow Labour MP Maria Fyfe dies aged 82". 3 December 2020. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill
1987–2001 		Succeeded by
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