Lesley Brennan

{{Short description|Scottish politician (born 1972)}} {{distinguish|Lesley Brannan}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Use British English|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Lesley Brennan | honorific_suffix = | image = Lesley Brennan.jpg | image_size = 220px | caption = Brennan in 2016 | office = [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]]<br />for [[North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|North East Scotland]]<br />{{nobold|(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)}} | parliament = | majority = | term_start = 13 January 2016 | term_end = 24 March 2016 | predecessor = [[Richard Baker (Scottish politician)|Richard Baker]] | successor = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1972|03}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | party = [[Scottish Labour Party]] | other_party = [[Campaign for Socialism]] }}

'''Lesley Brennan''' (born March 1972) is a Scottish politician who served as [[chief of staff]] to [[Richard Leonard (Scottish politician)|Richard Leonard]], during his tenure as [[Scottish Labour#Leader of the Scottish Labour Party|Leader of the Scottish Labour Party]], from 2017 to 2021. She was formerly a [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]] (MSP) for the [[North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|North East Scotland]] region for 70 days in early 2016 and a councillor in Dundee from 2012 to 2016. She has also worked as an economist and as a parliamentary assistant.

==Early life== Brennan was educated at [[Lawside Academy]] in Dundee. She graduated from [[Abertay University]] in 1999 with a first-class honours degree in economics, then studied at the [[University of Edinburgh]] where she gained a master's degree in economics in 2001.<ref name="ET 9Oct2013">{{cite news|url=https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/2013/10/09/battle-lines-drawn-for-dundee-seat-in-next-general-election/|title=Battle lines drawn for Dundee seat in next general election|date=9 October 2013|work=[[Evening Telegraph (Dundee)|Evening Telegraph]]|accessdate=23 June 2016}}</ref>

==Political career== Brennan was elected to the East End ward of [[Dundee City Council]] in [[2012 Dundee City Council election|2012]]. In October 2013, she was selected by Scottish Labour to contest [[Dundee East (UK Parliament constituency)|Dundee East]] at the [[2015 United Kingdom general election]]. However, she lost to the incumbent [[Stewart Hosie]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/labour-candidate-declines-tony-blairs-1000-donation-to-her-campaign-10094122.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/labour-candidate-declines-tony-blairs-1000-donation-to-her-campaign-10094122.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Labour candidate Lesley Brennan declines Tony Blair's £1,000 donation to campaign |first=Ben |last=Tuft |work=[[The Independent]]|date=8 March 2015 |accessdate=23 June 2016}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=Dundee East parliamentary constituency - Election 2019|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/S14000015|access-date=2020-05-02}}</ref>

When [[Richard Baker (Scottish politician)|Richard Baker]] resigned from the [[Scottish Parliament]] in January 2016, Labour nominated Brennan as his replacement as she had been next on their [[North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|North East Scotland]] regional list.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35281435|title=Labour MSP Richard Baker quits Holyrood for charity role |work=BBC News |date=11 January 2016}}</ref> Brennan was sworn in on 13 January 2016,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35296310 |title=New Scottish Labour MSP Lesley Brennan sworn in at Holyrood |work=BBC News |date=13 January 2016}}</ref> and served until the Parliament's dissolution two months later in March. She stood at the [[2016 Scottish Parliament election]] where Labour had placed her third on their regional list for North East Scotland, but she was not re-elected.<ref name="Courier 10May2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/politics/scottish-politics/169748/dundee-councillor-line-30000-bonus-10-weeks-msp/|title=Dundee councillor in line for a £30,000 bonus after 10 weeks as MSP|last=McPherson|first=Gareth|date=10 May 2016|work=[[The Courier (Dundee)|The Courier]]|accessdate=23 June 2016}}</ref> As a former MSP who had not been re-elected, she received a resettlement package of more than £30,000.<ref name="Courier 24Oct2016">{{cite news |url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/303879/former-msp-lesley-brennan-resign-councillor/ |title=Former MSP Lesley Brennan to resign as councillor |first=Paul |last=Malik |work=The Courier |date=24 October 2016 |accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref> In October 2016, she announced that she would not seek re-election when her term as councillor finished in [[2017 Dundee City Council election|2017]].<ref name="Courier 24Oct2016"/>

From 2016 to 2017, Brennan served as parliamentary assistant to [[Neil Findlay]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Lesley Brennan|url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/lesleybrennan|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=LinkedIn}}</ref> She was selected by Labour to contest Dundee East again at the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]].<ref name="Courier 29Apr2017">{{cite news|last=Morkis|first=Stefan|date=29 April 2017|title=Lesley Brennan selected as Labour candidate for Dundee East|work=The Courier|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/303879/former-msp-lesley-brennan-resign-councillor/|accessdate=12 May 2017}}</ref> She received 2,000 more votes than in 2015 but finished in third place behind Hosie and the Conservative candidate.<ref name=":0" /> A member of [[Campaign for Socialism]], she was appointed in November 2017 by Scottish Labour leader [[Richard Leonard]] to serve as his [[chief of staff]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/interview-scottish-labour-leader-richard-leonard-1-4700180|title=Interview: Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard|website=www.scotsman.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{SP-MSP}} * [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/lesleybrennan LinkedIn]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Lesley}} [[Category:1972 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Politicians from Dundee]] [[Category:Labour MSPs]] [[Category:Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016]] [[Category:Scottish Labour councillors]] [[Category:Councillors in Dundee]] [[Category:Alumni of Abertay University]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]] [[Category:Women councillors in Scotland]] [[Category:Female members of the Scottish Parliament]]