The Baroness Bryan of Partick | |
|---|---|
 Bryan in 2019 | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 2 July 2018 Life Peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 January 1950 |
| Political party | Labour |
Pauline Christina Bryan, Baroness Bryan of Partick (born 3 January 1950)[1] is a Scottish writer and socialist campaigner. She was nominated for a life peerage by the Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, in May 2018.[2][3] On 20 June, she was created Baroness Bryan of Partick, of Partick in the City of Glasgow.[4]
Bryan is part of the Red Paper Collective, a group of Labour activists who aim to provide an alternative from the perspective of the Labour movement to the "sterile nationalist v unionist debate" around the Scottish independence referendums.[5] Bryan reviewed Neil Findlay's book about his bid for the leadership of the Scottish Labour Party, Socialism & Hope: A Journey Through Turbulent Times, for the Morning Star in 2017. In her review Bryan wrote that the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party "was a lifeline for the left. It rebuilt friendships and enthusiasm. ... By the 2017 election, we saw the beginnings of a renewed Scottish Labour Party and a renewed activist base who, regardless of what their MPs and MSPs thought, were committing themselves to a radical Labour Party".[6]
Bryan is a founding member of the Keir Hardie Society, and was the editor of the 2015 book What Would Keir Hardie Say?.[7] She is also a founding member of the Campaign for Socialism.[8]
In October 2023, Bryan and eight others resigned from the executive board of the Glasgow Kelvin Constituency Labour Party following the comments of Keir Starmer on the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[9] The councillors resigned because a motion submitted to the Glasgow Kelvin Labour party was ruled "out of order and should not be debated at party meetings".[10] This was after "Labour Officials" wrote CLP's stating that "any motions" about Gaza would be "out of order and should not be debated at party meetings".[11] The motion called for the cessation of Israeli military action, but made no mention of the cessation of violence action by Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad or Israeli settlers.
