Words by Anabel Marsh
Maria Fyfe (née O'Neill; 25 November 1938 – 3 December 2020) served as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill from 1987 to 2001.
When I arrived at the Maryhill Burgh Halls as a volunteer in 2015, I had several years as a Glasgow Women’s Library tour guide behind me, and I was asked if I could create some similar women’s history material for Maryhill. When it came to choosing political women to include, I went for three spanning the twentieth century: Suffragette Jessie Stephen, Jamesina Anderson who was a councillor mid-century from 1945-1962 and, of course, Maria Fyfe. When I realised that she had been born in the Gorbals I also made sure she was included in the Women’s Library tour of that area. Her passion for equality making her a perfect fit.
Maria was elected as Maryhill’s first female MP in 1987 and served until 2001. A Labour Whip once revealed that in their office they sang songs about certain members. In her case it was ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?’, but rather than take offence she chose this as the title of her memoir, subtitled A Woman's Eye View of Life as an MP, which covered her fourteen years in Westminster in what was then, and still is, a male-dominated environment. Two examples illustrate this.
First, as the only female Scottish Labour candidate in 1987, Maria wasn't surprised to be asked for a press interview. When the journalist said he wanted to write a contrast piece about her and the Tory MP Anna McCurley she asked him what issues he had in mind. She was left speechless when he replied, "Oh nothing heavy like that, it's just that you're a brunette and she's a blonde."
Second, Maria had a successful front-bench career, but said: “I am proudest of having been involved in the 50-50 campaign to ensure that the Scottish Parliament started life with an almost equal representation of women". She recalls the Chair of the Scottish group of Labour MPs at the time reacting to her statement that such equal representation should be the case. “His jaw literally dropped. He said, ‘You cannot be serious’ ”.
How have things changed? Not enough! There are fewer women MSPs now than there were in 1999 (although, as Maria pointed out, in the 2019 election to the UK parliament, Labour elected 104 women MPs out of 203). Female politicians are still subject to misogynistic objectification and abuse, but without women like Maria blazing a trail, things would be worse. As she said in a further volume of memoirs, Singing in the Street: We cannot wallow in misery. We have to fight.
“We can all try to have a little of Mary Barbour in us” - Maria Fyfe
When Maria died in December 2020, that fighting spirit drew cross-party praise with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calling her a "feminist icon" who had been a personal inspiration to her as a budding politician. It was a spirit which had remained alive even after retirement from elected politics. For example, Maria was instrumental in the campaign to raise money for the statue of Mary Barbour, which was unveiled in Govan in 2018.
A few years ago, I attended an event to consider the short-list of designs for the Barbour statue, and made the mistake of telling Maria that I’d put her in two women’s history walks. Her look said that she definitely did not like being considered part of history! Now, sadly, she is. As Maria said of Mary Barbour: ‘’ Look how much she and her army achieved in the rent strikes of the First World War, and they didn’t even have the vote.’’ When people remarked, “If only we had a Mary Barbour today” Maria would always respond, “We can all try to have a little of Mary Barbour in us”. Maria was one who succeeded – and maybe we should all try to have a little of Maria Fyfe in us.