Catherine MacIntoch "Kay" Carmichael (22 November 1925 – 26 December 2009) (''née'' Rankin) was an influential figure in Scottish politics and an activist against

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion ...

s in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Life

Carmichael was born at

Shettleston Shettleston (, ) is an area in the Glasgow#East End, east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name "Shettleston" is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a multitude of spellings. A papal bu ...

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 ...

on 22 November 1925. She studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and went on to hold the post of Senior Lecturer at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. At the age of 20 she joined 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 Scotland. Her activism included "guerrilla raids" into

Faslane Naval Base 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). It ...

to plant flowers for which she was sentenced to two weeks in prison. Whilst a member of the UK Government’s Supplementary Benefits Commission in the late 1970s she chose to live for a short while on benefits in the

Lilybank Lilybank is a neighbourhood in the east of Glasgow, Scotland. Neighbouring areas Newbank to the west, Braidfauld to the east and the eastern part of Parkhead to the north. The A74 London Road runs to the south, with the land on the opposite si ...

area of Glasgow. In 1977, BBC Scotland made a documentary based on her experiences. ‘Lilybank:The Fourth World’ was widely resented by residents, decried as ‘poverty porn’ by academics while being praised for its ‘realism’ by others. She was married to

Neil Carmichael, Baron Carmichael of Kelvingrove Neil George Carmichael, Baron Carmichael of Kelvingrove (10 October 1921 – 19 July 2001) was a Scottish politician. He was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) in Glasgow from 1962 to 1983. Early life Carmichael was the son of James Carmi ...

, a Scottish MP who became a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and Member of the House of Lords in 1983: they divorced in 1987. Together they had one daughter. She then married social policy expert

David Donnison David Vernon Donnison (19 January 1926 – 28 April 2018) was a British academic and social scientist, who was Professor of Social Administration at the London School of Economics from 1961 to 1969, and Professor of Town and Regional Planning (19 ...

."David Donnison, social policy expert whose research into poverty changed the lives of many"
Duncan MacLennan and David Webster, The Scotsman, 11 May 2018

Books

* ''It Takes a Lifetime to Become Yourself: A Collection of Writings'' by Kay Carmichael, edited by David Donnison (Scotland Street Press, 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmichael, Kay Scottish women activists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 1925 births 2009 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow British anti–nuclear weapons activists English female criminals Politicians from Glasgow Carmichael of Kelvingrove Spouses of life peers People from Shettleston