Editing Maria Fyfe (section)

==Background==
Catherine Maria O'Neill was born on 25 November 1938 in [[Glasgow]], where she grew up in [[Gorbals]], the daughter of James O'Neill, a clerk, tram driver and shopworker, and Margaret Lacey, a former shop assistant.<ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = Fyfe [née O’Neill], Catherine Mary [Maria] (1938–2020), politician|last = Henderson|first = Ann|authorlink = Ann Henderson (campaigner)|date = 2024|doi = 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381924}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Roth|first1=Andrew|last2=Roth|first2=Terry|last3=Gifford|first3=Manda|last4=Reid|first4=Andrew|title=Parliamentary profiles|date=1989|publisher=Parliamentary Profiles|isbn=0-900582-26-X|edition=2nd|location=London|pages=510–511|oclc=20315507}}</ref> She briefly spent time in Ireland during the [[Second World War]] before returning to Glasgow, and was educated at Notre Dame High School in the city.<ref name=":0" /> In 1964, she married James Fyfe; they had two sons.<ref name = ODNB/> She returned to education as a mature student, studying Economic History at the [[University of Strathclyde]] and graduating in 1975 with a BA (Hons).<ref name="WW"/> She worked as a senior lecturer in the Trade Union Studies Unit at [[Central College (Glasgow)|Glasgow Central College of Commerce]] from 1978 to 1987.

===Early political career===
Fyfe became a member of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in 1960.<ref name="WW"/> She and her husband James, a journalist with the ''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|Glasgow Herald]]'',<ref>Drucker, H. M., ''Breakaway: The Scottish Labour Party'' (Edinburgh: EUSPB, 1978), p. 21.</ref> left Labour to join [[Jim Sillars]]' breakaway pro-devolution [[Scottish Labour Party (1976)|Scottish Labour Party]] (SLP) in 1976, but the internal strife that plagued the new venture led to her expulsion and return to her former party within a year.<ref>Fyfe, Maria, [https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18411625.letters-time-wider-yes-movement-step-forward/ "Letters page"], ''The Herald'', 28 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2023.</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/12/08/maria-fyfe-left-wing-scots-labour-mp-fought-women-inside-outside/ "Maria Fyfe, Left-wing Scots Labour MP who fought for women inside and outside politics – obituary"], ''Daily Telegraph'', 8 December 2020. [https://web.archive.org/web/20201208233933/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/12/08/maria-fyfe-left-wing-scots-labour-mp-fought-women-inside-outside/ Archived] from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2023.</ref><ref name="TimesObit">[https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/maria-fyfe-obituary-7bkqk22xj "Maria Fyfe obituary"], ''The Times'', 5 December 2020. [https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/maria-fyfe-obituary-7bkqk22xj Archived] from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2023.</ref> In 1980 she was a Labour candidate in [[1980 City of Glasgow District Council election|that year's Glasgow District Council election]], where she took the Blairdardie ward from the [[Scottish National Party]] with a majority of 763 votes.<ref>{{cite web |author1=J. M. Bochel |author2=D. T. Denver |title=The Scottish District Elections 1980 |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Scottish-District-Elections-1980.pdf |page=52}}</ref> On the council, she served firstly as Vice-Convener of the Finance Committee (1980–84) and then as Convener of the Personnel Committee until 1987, when she was elected to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]].<ref name=scots/> She was a member of Labour's Scottish Executive Committee from 1981 to 1988.<ref name="WW"/>