Cat Boyd

Cat Boyd is a Scottish trade union activist who was a co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign and the Scottish Left Project. She was a prominent figure during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Cat Boyd in April 2016 holding her signed pledge in opposition to TTIP

She is one of the people credited with bringing together RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance, a left-wing electoral alliance created ahead of the 2016 Scottish Parliament general election. She stood, unsuccessfully, as a RISE candidate for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election on the Glasgow regional list. RISE did not gain any seats in the 2016 election.

Boyd co-authored a book that was published in 2014 and writes a weekly column for The National newspaper.

Background

Boyd studied economics and Spanish at the University of Strathclyde. Her mother, Isabelle Boyd, is a former headteacher who was also the Assistant Chief Executive for Education, Youth and Communities at North Lanarkshire Council, and accepted a CBE in 2009.[1][2]

Activist

It was during the campaign ahead of the Scottish independence referendum that Boyd emerged as a prominent activist. In November 2012 she co-founded the Radical Independence Campaign, which supported a left-wing vision of an independent Scotland.[3] Boyd also sat on the editorial board of the Scottish Left Review.[4]

While the outcome of the referendum was "No" to independence, the months that followed saw a new coalition forming- the Scottish Left Project. Boyd described the project not as a party but a way to link up with other socialists, community activists, trade unions, social justice campaigners and activists.[4]

On 17 November 2016, Boyd made her first appearance on BBC Question Time where she condemned the 2016 vote for Brexit, then divulged that she herself had not voted in the EU referendum, which was met by jeers from the audience.[5]

In July 2017, during an appearance on a television programme, Boyd said that she had voted for the Labour Party at the 2017 UK general election.[6] She later articulated that for that election she saw herself as a pro-independence Corbyn supporter.[7]

RISE

Boyd was seen as a spokesperson as speculation grew around a socialist challenge being formed for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2016,[8] having been involved with protests against austerity[9] and appearing at The Left Field at the 2015 Glastonbury Festival.[10] She had cited the need for a new left-wing force on the basis that she considered the Labour party to have collapsed.[11]

She also spoke against involving figures like Tommy Sheridan who had been seen as divisive.[12] She was hopeful about momentum of the project in reviving a socialist movement in Scotland.[13] After the alliance was launched at the end of August, with support from the Scottish Socialist Party,[14][15] Boyd said she thought RISE would appeal to ex-Labour voters.[16]

In January 2016, RISE announced that they had selected Boyd as a candidate for the Scottish Parliament election in 2016 and that she would top their regional list for Glasgow.[17][18] RISE did not gain any seats nationally, polling just 1% in Glasgow and coming eighth (behind Sheridan's Solidarity movement).

Writer

Boyd co-wrote Scottish Independence: A Feminist Response with Jenny Morrison, a book published in 2014, exploring the contemporary relevance of Scottish feminist history.[19][20] On the 2015 International Women's Day she spoke about women and the referendum at a meeting at Sinn Féin's Ard Fheis.[21]

She has also been an advocate of social justice and internationalism.[22]

Boyd writes a weekly column that is published in The National, a Scottish daily compact newspaper.[23]

References
  1. "The council's management team". North Lanarkshire Council. 21 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  2. Gordon, Tom (27 March 2016). ""We want to take the fight for ordinary people right into the parliament, right into the belly of the beast, and shake things up a bit."". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  3. "Radical Independence Campaign launches 'People's Vow'". BBC News. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  4. Boyd, Cat (14 December 2014). "Left needs to fightback against Blairite". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  5. Tom Gordon (18 November 2016). "Yes campaigner who condemned EU leave campaign jeered over Brexit vote abstention". The Herald. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  6. Haggerty, Angela (23 July 2017). "Tribalist yelling 'traitor' won't help the Indy movement". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  7. "I voted for Corbyn. And I still want Scottish independence | Cat Boyd…". The Guardian. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  8. Gordon, Tom (24 May 2015). "'Scottish Syriza' to stand at next Holyrood election". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  9. Duffy, Judith (20 June 2015). "More than a thousand attend anti-austerity protest in Glasgow". The Herald. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  10. "Left Field: 2015 debates". www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk. Glastonbury Festival. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  11. "Big Question: would a one-party state be a disaster for Scotland?". Prospect. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  12. Hutcheon, Paul (3 May 2015). "Sheridan's fight against perjury conviction suffers setback". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  13. Gordon, Tom (7 June 2015). "'Scottish Syriza' gains support from left in Greece, Spain and Canada". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  14. "SCOTTISH SOCIALISTS BACK BUILDING NEW LEFT ALLIANCE". 24 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  15. "Colin Fox: closing speech to the RISE Conference". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  16. Carrell, Severin (19 September 2015). "Scotland's Rise alliance ready to challenge SNP in Holyrood". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  17. "RISE announce list". Bella Caledonia. 6 January 2016.
  18. Gordon, Tom (29 November 2015). "Scotland's Syriza promises radical socialist manifesto for Holyrood election". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  19. Allan, Vicky (17 August 2014). "A don't-know state of mind". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  20. Dunn, Sinead (29 September 2014). "A readable, robust and unapologetic feminist voice". International Viewpoint. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  21. Rummery, Kirstein (12 March 2015). "Reflections on Women in Scottish Politics after International Women's Day". www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  22. Boyd, Cat (21 December 2014). "Westminster simply doesn't work". The Scotsman. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  23. "Latest articles by Cat Boyd". The National. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
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