Lesley Brennan (born March 1972) is a Scottish politician who served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Richard Leonard Richard Leonard (born January 1962) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the Central Scotland ...

, during his tenure as

Leader of the Scottish Labour Party The office of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party was established when the Scottish Parliament was formed in 1998 prior to its inaugural election. Until the Murphy and Boyack review in 2011, the office was Leader of the Labour Party in the Scot ...

, from 2017 to 2021. She was formerly a

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 North East Scotland region for 70 days in early 2016 and a councillor in Dundee from 2012 to 2016. She has also worked as an economist and as a parliamentary assistant.

Early life

Brennan was educated at Lawside Academy in Dundee. She graduated from

Abertay University Abertay University () is a public university in the city of Dundee, Scotland. In 1872, Sir David Baxter, 1st Baronet of Kilmaron, left a bequest for the establishment of a mechanics' institute in Dundee and the Dundee Institute of Technology w ...

in 1999 with a first-class honours degree in economics, then 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 ...

where she gained a master's degree in economics in 2001.

Political career

Brennan was elected to the East End ward of

Dundee City Council Dundee City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Dundee City council area, Dundee City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Dundee was formerly governed by a municipal c ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. In October 2013, she was selected by Scottish Labour to contest Dundee East at the

2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Conservative Party (U ...

. However, she lost to the incumbent

Stewart Hosie Stewart Hosie (born 3 January 1963) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee East from 2005 to 2024. He served as the SNP Treasury Spokesperson from 2022 to 2023, and previously from 201 ...

. When Richard Baker resigned from the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

in January 2016, Labour nominated Brennan as his replacement as she had been next on their North East Scotland regional list. Brennan was sworn in on 13 January 2016, and served until the Parliament's dissolution two months later in March. She stood at the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

where Labour had placed her third on their regional list for North East Scotland, but she was not re-elected. As a former MSP who had not been re-elected, she received a resettlement package of more than £30,000. In October 2016, she announced that she would not seek re-election when her term as councillor finished in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. From 2016 to 2017, Brennan served as parliamentary assistant to

Neil Findlay Neil Findlay (born 6 March 1969) is a Scottish politician who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Lothian from 2011 to 2021. A member of Scottish Labour, he was previously a councillor in West Lothian from 2003 to 2012. Early li ...

. She was selected by Labour to contest Dundee East again at the 2017 general election. She received 2,000 more votes than in 2015 but finished in third place behind Hosie and the Conservative candidate. A member of

Campaign for Socialism Campaign for Socialism (CfS) is an autonomous political organisation of Scottish Labour Party members and supporters who campaign for left-wing policies and candidates within the party. In 2016, CfS agreed to a joint membership scheme with Moment ...

, she was appointed in November 2017 by Scottish Labour leader

to serve as his

References

External links

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LinkedIn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Lesley 1972 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Dundee Labour MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Scottish Labour councillors Councillors in Dundee Alumni of Abertay University Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Women councillors in Scotland Female members of the Scottish Parliament