Rosemary McKenna (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Harvey; born 8 May 1941) 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, who sat in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1997 to 2010. She was elected as the member of parliament (MP) for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth at the 1997 general election, and held that seat until its abolition in boundary changes for the 2005 general election. She was then elected as the MP for the new

Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election, replacing Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and part of Strathkelvin and Bearsden. The seat ha ...

, from which she stood down at the next election, in 2010.

Early life

Born to the Irish Cornelius Harvey and a Scottish mother, Susan, she went to St Augustine's RC Secondary School on ''Liddesdale Road'' in Milton, Glasgow. From 1958 to 1965, she worked as a secretary. She joined the Labour Party in 1966 when she moved to Cumbernauld. She studied at the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Notre Dame College of Education, receiving a Diploma in Primary Education in 1974. She was a primary school teacher from 1974 to 1994 before becoming a local councillor and eventual

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

of the former Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District Council.

Parliamentary career

McKenna was first elected in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

to represent the former Cumbernauld and Kilsyth seat, which she retained at the 2001 election. The seat was abolished for the 2005 general election and she contested the new

constituency, winning with a 1.1% swing against her to the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

. She retired at the 2010

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. In 2006, she gave the loyal address following the Queens Speech alongside

Alun Michael Alun Edward Michael (born 22 August 1943) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative retired politician. He served as Secretary of State for Wales from 1998 to 1999 and then as the first First Secretary of Wales (later known as First Minister) and L ...

. She was responsible for chairing the Labour Party's vetting procedure for candidates for the first election for 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'. ...

. This process saw many of the more left-oriented candidates rejected, including

Dennis Canavan Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West (UK Parliament constituency), Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire (UK Parliament constituency), West S ...

, Ian Davidson,

Michael Connarty Michael Connarty (born 3 September 1947) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Linlithgow and Falkirk East from 2005 until 2015, and Falkirk East (1992–2005). Parliamentary career He unsuccessf ...

, all of whom were sitting Members of Parliament at the time, as well as

Tommy Sheppard Thomas or Tommy Sheppard may refer to: * Thomas Sheppard (cricketer) (1873–1954), English cricketer * Thomas Sheppard (MP) (1766–1858), Whig (and then Conservative) Member of Parliament (MP) for Frome *Sir Thomas Sheppard, 1st Baronet (died 1821 ...

, a former Assistant

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Labour Party in Scotland.

Personal life

She married James McKenna. They have three sons and one daughter.

References

External links

*
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Rosemary McKenna MP

Voting Record at the Public Whip
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Rosemary 1941 births Living people Scottish Labour MPs Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Politicians from Glasgow Provosts in Scotland Scottish people of Irish descent UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Women provosts in Scotland Scottish Labour councillors 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20th-century Scottish politicians 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians