Irene Oldfather
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Irene Hamilton Oldfather (born 1954 in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
) is a
Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is repres ...
politician. She was the
Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...
(MSP) for the Cunninghame South constituency from 1999 until 2011, when she was defeated by the SNP's
Margaret Burgess Margaret Jean Burgess (born 7 December 1949) is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She was the Minister for Housing and Welfare from 2012 to 2016, and the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Cunninghame South constit ...
. During her time in Parliament, Oldfather served primarily on the European and External Relations Committee, acting as Convener for part of the 1999 and all of 2007 Sessions, and as Deputy Convener between 2003 and 2007. She was also co-chair of the Parliament's working group on prescription drug dependency. She served as a member of the Parliament’s first Health Committee where she was strongly supportive of tobacco control. She set up the Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Alzheimer’s and ushered a Charter of Rights for People with Dementia through Parliament. She was a member of
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, being first elected in 1995, but was defeated in the
2017 Scottish local elections The 2017 Scottish local elections were held on Thursday 4 May, in all 32 local authorities. The SNP retained its position as the largest party in terms of votes and councillors, despite suffering minor losses. The Conservatives made gains and d ...
. She served as the council's vice-chair for education. She was a Scottish member of European Committee of the Regions (CoR) from 1997 to 2011 where she served as Vice President of the Socialist Group (PES) for 11 years. After leaving Politics she was a Consultant writing the Business Case for Big Lottery’s £25 million spend, Life Changes Trust for People with Dementia. In 2012 Oldfather became Director of Strategic Partnerships and External Affairs at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland. In 2015 she became a Scottish Representative of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) where she served until Brexit on January 2020. in her earlier career, She was a lecturer in Government at the
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. She also did an internship at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC working with Professor Richard Rose University of Strathclyde. She attended Bank Street Primary and Irvine Royal Academy. She attended the
University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...
, graduating with a BSc (Honours) and MSc in Politics. In June 2024, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Strathclyde for national and international services to patients and carers. She campaigned to Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum and in 2022 became a Member of the United Kingdom Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with Europe., where she was elected Vice Chair. In December 2024 she was re elected Vice Chair for a second term. In 2023 she set up the Scottish Advisory Forum on Europe (SAFE) which she Chairs. (2025).


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* 1954 births Living people Labour MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Female members of the Scottish Parliament 20th-century Scottish women politicians {{MSP-stub