Janey Buchan
Encyclopedia
Janey O'Neil Buchan (b. 30 April 1926, Glasgow
) was a Scottish
Labour
Member of the European Parliament
(MEP) for the Glasgow constituency
from 1979 to 1994 when she retired from the post aged 67.
Her father was a tram
driver, and her mother a domestic servant. She left school at the age of 14, as was typical for working class
children at the time, and worked as a typist. In 1946, at the age of 19 she married Norman Buchan
, a schoolteacher who later became Labour Member of Parliament
(MP) from 1964 till his death in 1990 for West Renfrewshire
and latterly Paisley South
.
She attended commercial college and was a councillor on Strathclyde
Regional Council from 1974 to 1979, when she was first elected to the European Parliament
in the first elections, in 1979. Whilst an MEP she sat on the European Parliament's Culture Committee as well as being involved in the Scottish Arts Council
and Scottish Gas Consumers Council.
She is the Life President of the leading Scots gay organisation Outright Scotland
.
A lifetime's involvement in the arts resulted in many donations of books and art to most Scottish universities, Glasgow School of Art and The Smith Museum, Stirling. The collection of books, pamphlets and chapbooks of political songs she donated to Glasgow Caledonian University form the core of the collection administered by the university's Centre for Political Song.
Her lifetime of activity encompassed many fields. She helped run the People's Festival in 1949-52 during the Edinburgh festival; the events helped create the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As a Glasgow city councillor, she organised the first charity Christmas card sales in the UK. As a member of the council's arts committee she was instrumental in providing funding for the first films made by Bill Forsyth, who went on to direct major UK and Hollywood films including Local Hero.
She has one son, Alasdair, editor of Equality & Diversity Professional, four grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(MEP) for the Glasgow constituency
Glasgow (European Parliament constituency)
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
from 1979 to 1994 when she retired from the post aged 67.
Her father was a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
driver, and her mother a domestic servant. She left school at the age of 14, as was typical for working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
children at the time, and worked as a typist. In 1946, at the age of 19 she married Norman Buchan
Norman Buchan
Norman Findlay Buchan was a Labour politician, who represented the West Renfrewshire seat from 1964 until 1983 and the Paisley South seat from 1983 to 1990....
, a schoolteacher who later became Labour Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) from 1964 till his death in 1990 for West Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire West (UK Parliament constituency)
West Renfrewshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983 and again from 1997 until 2005...
and latterly Paisley South
Paisley South (UK Parliament constituency)
Paisley South was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....
.
She attended commercial college and was a councillor on Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
Regional Council from 1974 to 1979, when she was first elected to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in the first elections, in 1979. Whilst an MEP she sat on the European Parliament's Culture Committee as well as being involved in the Scottish Arts Council
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
and Scottish Gas Consumers Council.
She is the Life President of the leading Scots gay organisation Outright Scotland
Outright Scotland
Outright Scotland is a LGBT rights organisation based in Edinburgh, Scotland.-History:Outright Scotland began as the Scottish Minorities Group in 1969.In 1974, SMG bought the premises on Broughton Street that became the Edinburgh LGBT Centre....
.
A lifetime's involvement in the arts resulted in many donations of books and art to most Scottish universities, Glasgow School of Art and The Smith Museum, Stirling. The collection of books, pamphlets and chapbooks of political songs she donated to Glasgow Caledonian University form the core of the collection administered by the university's Centre for Political Song.
Her lifetime of activity encompassed many fields. She helped run the People's Festival in 1949-52 during the Edinburgh festival; the events helped create the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As a Glasgow city councillor, she organised the first charity Christmas card sales in the UK. As a member of the council's arts committee she was instrumental in providing funding for the first films made by Bill Forsyth, who went on to direct major UK and Hollywood films including Local Hero.
She has one son, Alasdair, editor of Equality & Diversity Professional, four grandchildren and one great-grandson.
External links
- The Norman & Janey Buchan Collection, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityGlasgow Caledonian UniversityGlasgow Caledonian University is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland.The university was constituted by an Act of Parliament on 1 April 1993 as a result of a merger between Glasgow Polytechnic and The Queen's College, Glasgow....
- Them and Us: Reflections from Janey Buchan