SNP

The Glasgow West End Branch of the Scottish National Party pay tribute to Kay Carmichael who died on 26 December 2009, aged 84.

Kay Carmichael was a lecturer and writer on social policy but she was also a passionate campaigner and activist all her life.

Kay’s highly influential work contributed to the creation of children’s panels and the special unit at Barlinnie for violent offenders, but perhaps her most famous work was her spell living on a breadline income in Glasgow’s East End close to where she was born and brought up. Those three months in Lilybank formed the basis of a landmark BBC documentary in 1977.

For nearly 50 years, Kay was a member of the Labour Party. She joined in 1945 and later became a part-time member of Harold Wilson’s policy unit at Number 10. The relationship with the party reached breaking point however in 1994 when Tony Blair was elected leader. After leaving Labour, she joined the Scottish Socialist Party before finally becoming a member of the SNP.

Kay was always passionately anti-nuclear and for seven years lived in Ardentinny near Faslane’s perimeter fence.

For many years, she wrote for The Herald and also published two books.

Aged 76, Kay gained a PhD from Glasgow University in theology and English.

She is survived by her husband David Donnison and by Sheena, a daughter from her first marriage, and two grandchildren.