Frances Curran (born 21 May 1961) is a former co-chair of the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an Scottish independence, independent Socialism, so ...

. She was a

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The add ...

(MSP) for the West of Scotland region from 2003 to 2007.

Political career

A former member of the Labour Party and an organiser for the

entryist Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, or infiltration) is a political strategy in which an organisation or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organization in an attempt to expand influence and expand the ...

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

group, Curran became a high-profile figure in Scottish left politics on her election to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holy ...

as a Scottish Socialist Party MSP in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

. She had joined the SSP on its formation in 1998, and brought political experience she had gained while she served as the youth representative on Labour's

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

. In July 2005, Curran played a role in organising the protest outside Gleneagles at the

2005 G8 Summit The 31st G8 summit was held on 6–8 July 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland and hosted by Prime Minister Tony Blair. The locations of previous G8 summits to have been hosted by the UK include: London (1977, 1984, 1991); and ...

. The previous week, she and other SSP MSPs took part in a protest within the Scottish Parliament, which led to them being suspended for the month of September and fined £30,000. This protest was due to their claim that the

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

had gone back on his word that the parliament would support the rally outside the Perthshire hotel. Curran was the public face of the SSP's campaign for the provision of nutritious

free school meals A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

, which they said would tackle ill health and poor diet in Scottish schoolchildren. Her campaign drew a wide base of support from a number of children's and health charities. As part of the Save Our Services campaign, she was involved in community occupations to stop the closure of a school and community centre. In 2007, she was arrested but not charged at an anti-nuclear protest at

Faslane His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). I ...

as part of the

Faslane 365 Faslane Peace Camp is a permanent peace camp sited alongside Faslane Naval base in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It has been occupied continuously, in a few different locations, since 12 June 1982. In 1984, the book ''Faslane:Diary of a Peace Camp ...

campaign. She was an unsuccessful candidate in the July 2008 Glasgow East by-election. During the campaign, she was informed that the police had received death threats against her. She stood again as a candidate on the Glasgow regional list for the Holyrood election in 2011, but failed to be elected. She had stepped down as the party's national co-spokesperson less than a month before the election. Curran was elected to the SSP's Executive Committee in 2012 but stood down again in 2013, keeping a low profile throughout the party's referendum campaign. She was elected as party co-chair alongside Bill Bonnar at the 2014 conference, but withdrew her nomination for the position on the day of the 2015 conference seven months later. She was re-elected to the SSP executive at its 2016 conference. At the 2018 conference she stood for national spokesperson, but lost to Róisín McLaren. She remains an ordinary member of the executive committee.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Frances 1961 births Living people Scottish Socialist Party national spokespersons Politicians from Glasgow Scottish Trotskyists Scottish Socialist Party MSPs Militant tendency supporters Female members of the Scottish Parliament Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007