# Helen Eadie

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Scottish politician (1947–2013)

Helen Eadie Eadie in 2011 Deputy Convener of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee In office 14 June 2011 – 9 November 2013 Convener Dave Thompson Preceded by Marilyn Livingstone Succeeded by Alex Rowley Member of the Scottish Parliament for Cowdenbeath Dunfermline East (1999–2011) In office 6 May 1999 – 9 November 2013 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Alex Rowley Personal details Born Helen Stirling Eadie (1947-03-07)7 March 1947 Stenhousemuir, Scotland Died 9 November 2013(2013-11-09) (aged 66) Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland Party Labour Co-operative Alma mater London School of Economics

**Helen Stirling Eadie** (7 March 1947 – 9 November 2013) was a [Scottish Labour](/source/Scottish_Labour) [Co-operative](/source/Labour_and_Co-operative) politician who served as [Member of the Scottish Parliament](/source/Member_of_the_Scottish_Parliament) (MSP) for [Cowdenbeath](/source/Cowdenbeath_(Scottish_Parliament_constituency)), previously [Dunfermline East](/source/Dunfermline_East_(Scottish_Parliament_constituency)), from [1999](/source/1999_Scottish_Parliament_election) until her death in 2013.

## Early life

Helen Stirling Eadie was born in [Stenhousemuir](/source/Stenhousemuir), near [Falkirk](/source/Falkirk). She attended Larbert Village School, [Larbert High School](/source/Larbert_High_School) and [Falkirk Technical College](/source/Forth_Valley_College) before going on to read trade union studies at the [London School of Economics](/source/London_School_of_Economics).[1]

Eadie was a member of [Fife Regional Council](/source/Fife_Regional_Council) before being elected the [Scottish Parliament](/source/Scottish_Parliament) in 1999.[1] At the [1997 general election](/source/1997_United_Kingdom_general_election), she contested the [Roxburgh and Berwickshire](/source/Roxburgh_and_Berwickshire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) constituency as the Labour candidate. She finished in third place, but increased her party's share of the vote to 15% from 8.8% in [1992](/source/1992_United_Kingdom_general_election).[2]

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

When Labour was in power in the [Scottish Executive](/source/Scottish_Executive), Eadie called for an end to tolls on the [Forth Road Bridge](/source/Forth_Road_Bridge).[3]

After the [May 2003 Scottish parliament election](/source/2003_Scottish_Parliament_election), Eadie strongly opposed the then [Labour–Liberal Democrat coalition](/source/Second_McConnell_government)'s agreed deal to [introduce](/source/Local_Governance_(Scotland)_Act_2004) the [single transferable vote](/source/Single_transferable_vote) (STV) [proportional system](/source/Proportional_representation) for future [local council elections](/source/2007_Scottish_local_elections). She said it was an example of "the tail wagging the dog" and "It's about one of the smallest parties in the parliament wanting to use the power that they have to try to force through issues that they want to see steamrollered through."[3]

In November 2006, Eadie called for [curfews](/source/Curfews) against under-15 youths, after she was surrounded and trapped inside her car by a mob of youngsters who started rocking the car and throwing missiles at it.[3]

She was a member of many [Scottish Parliament committees](/source/Committees_of_the_Scottish_Parliament), but in June 2007 resigned two of her committee posts in protest at a [Tory MSP](/source/Scottish_Conservative) being given a convener-ship of the [equal opportunities](/source/Equal_opportunities) committee. Eadie said at the time, the move was like "putting [Attila the Hun](/source/Attila_the_Hun) in charge of community care".[3]

## Personal life

Eadie was married with two daughters.[4] In 2013, it emerged she was being treated for cancer at the [Queen Margaret Hospital](/source/Queen_Margaret_Hospital), following diagnosis at the end of October.[5] She died on 9 November 2013.[3]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-dailyrecord-death_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-dailyrecord-death_1-1) ["Labour MSP Helen Eadie dies of cancer, aged 66"](http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/labour-msp-helen-eadie-dies-2713861). *Daily Record*. 9 November 2013. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20131112084837/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/labour-msp-helen-eadie-dies-2713861) from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Times97_2-0)** *The Times Guide to the House of Commons May 1997*. London: Times Newspapers Ltd. 1997. p. 218. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7230-0956-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7230-0956-2).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BBC24853276_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BBC24853276_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-BBC24853276_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-BBC24853276_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-BBC24853276_3-4) ["Labour MSP Helen Eadie dies, aged 66"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24853276). BBC News online. 9 November 2013. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20151223061123/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24853276) from the original on 23 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [*Veteran Labour MSP Helen Eadie has died at 66*](http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/442137/Veteran-Labour-MSP-Helen-Eadie-has-died-at-66). Scottish Express. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Labour MSP Helen Eadie treated for cancer"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24853271). *BBC News*. 7 November 2013. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20131107171009/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24853271) from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

## External links

- [Official website](http://heleneadie.com)

- Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: [Helen Eadie](https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps/helen-eadie)

- [Helen Eadie MSP](http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/helen_eadie/index.htm) Biography at Scottish Parliament website

- [Helen Eadie MSP](https://web.archive.org/web/20060507174648/http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/dunfermlineeast1/) Biography at Labour party website

- [Helen Eadie MSP](https://web.archive.org/web/20070913225620/http://www.fifelabour.org.uk/HelenEadie/index.htm) Helen's pages on the Fife Labour website

v t e Former Labour Party MSPs By date first representing Scottish Labour in the Scottish Parliament 1999 Wendy Alexander Scott Barrie Sarah Boyack Rhona Brankin Bill Butler Malcolm Chisholm Cathie Craigie Margaret Curran Susan Deacon Donald Dewar Helen Eadie Patricia Ferguson Sam Galbraith Karen Gillon Trish Godman Rhoda Grant Iain Gray Hugh Henry John Home Robertson Janis Hughes Gordon Jackson Sylvia Jackson Cathy Jamieson Margaret Jamieson Andy Kerr Johann Lamont Marilyn Livingstone Jack McConnell Lewis Macdonald Angus MacKay Kate Maclean Ken Macintosh Maureen Macmillan Paul Martin John McAllion Frank McAveety Tom McCabe Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale Henry McLeish Michael McMahon Duncan McNeil Des McNulty Alasdair Morrison Bristow Muldoon Mary Mulligan Elaine Murray Irene Oldfather Peter Peacock Cathy Peattie Richard Simpson Elaine Smith Elaine Thomson Mike Watson Ian Welsh Karen Whitefield Allan Wilson 2001 Brian Fitzpatrick 2003 Richard Baker Marlyn Glen Christine May 2005 Charlie Gordon 2007 Baron Foulkes of Cumnock James Kelly John Park David Stewart David Whitton 2011 Claudia Beamish Kezia Dugdale Mary Fee Neil Findlay Hanzala Malik Jenny Marra Margaret McCulloch Margaret McDougall Siobhan McMahon Anne McTaggart Graeme Pearson John Pentland Drew Smith 2012 Jayne Baxter 2013 Cara Hilton 2014 Alex Rowley 2016 Lesley Brennan Monica Lennon Richard Leonard Colin Smyth 2021 Foysol Choudhury Pam Duncan-Glancy Paul O'Kane Mercedes Villalba Martin Whitfield 2025 Davy Russell

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Helen Eadie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Eadie) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Eadie?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.