Frances Curran
{{Short description|Scottish former co-chair of the Scottish Socialist Party}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Frances Curran.jpg
| name = Frances Curran
| birth_date ={{Birth date and age|1961|5|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland
| residence = Partick, Scotland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| honorific-suffix =
| office =
| term_start = 1 May 2003
| term_end = 2 April 2007
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party = Scottish Socialist Party
| religion =
| constituency_MP= West of Scotland
| parliament = Scottish
| majority =
| spouse = none
| children = 1 son
| website =
}}
Frances Curran (born 21 May 1961) is a former co-chair of the Scottish Socialist Party. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West of Scotland region from 2003 to 2007.{{cite news| url = http://www.heraldscotland.com/meet-the-candidates-1.885281 | title = Meet the candidates | accessdate = 2010-07-25 | date = 2008-07-24 | newspaper = The Herald}}
Political career
A former member of the Labour Party and an organiser for the entryist Militant group,Roz Paterson [http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Scotland-s-brave-new-world "Scotland's brave new world"], Red Pepper, [May 2004] Curran became a high-profile figure in Scottish left politics on her election to the Scottish Parliament as a Scottish Socialist Party MSP in 2003. 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.
In July 2005, Curran played a role in organising the protest outside Gleneagles at the 2005 G8 Summit.{{cite news | url = http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2005/07/05/story7304404t0.shtm | title = Protest peace pledge | accessdate = 2010-07-25 | date = 2005-07-05 | newspaper = Evening Telegraph | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120302075150/http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2005/07/05/story7304404t0.shtm | archivedate = 2 March 2012 | df = dmy-all }} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/banned-socialists-protest-at-holyrood-1.43709|title=Banned Socialists protest at Holyrood|date=7 September 2005|accessdate=31 October 2014|publisher=The Herald}} This protest was due to their claim that the First Minister 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, 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 as part of the Faslane 365 campaign.{{cite news| url = http://www.heraldscotland.com/mcconnell-attacks-faslane-demo-1.840754 | title = McConnell attacks Faslane demo | accessdate = 2010-07-25 | date = 2007-01-12 | newspaper = The Herald}}
She was an unsuccessful candidate in the July 2008 Glasgow East by-election.{{cite news| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/scotland/2456823/Glasgow-East-by-election-Labour-demands-recount-as-SNP-claims-victory.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080728152502/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/scotland/2456823/Glasgow-East-by-election-Labour-demands-recount-as-SNP-claims-victory.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2008-07-28 | title = Glasgow East by-election: Labour demands recount as SNP claims victory | accessdate = 2010-07-25 | date = 2008-07-25 | newspaper = Daily Telegraph}} During the campaign, she was informed that the police had received death threats against her.{{cite news| url = http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Glasgow-East-Curran-warned-of.4314029.jp | title = Glasgow East: Curran warned of death threat | accessdate = 2010-07-25 | date = 2008-07-23 | newspaper = The Scotsman}}
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,{{cite web|last=Nichols|first=Dick|url=http://links.org.au/node/4123|title=Spirited Scottish Socialist Party conference tackles post-referendum challenges|date=29 October 2014|accessdate=17 November 2014}} 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.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{SP-MSP}}
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{{succession box|title=Youth representative on the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party|years=1984–1986|before=Steve Morgan|after=Linda Douglas}}
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{{SSP politicians}}
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Category:Scottish Socialist Party national spokespersons
Category:Politicians from Glasgow
Category:Scottish Socialist Party MSPs
Category:Militant tendency supporters