Catherine Mary Jamieson (born 3 November 1956) is a Scottish business director, currently a director at Kilmarnock Football Club and former politician. She served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2000 to 2008. She previously served in the Scottish Executive as Minister for Justice from 2003 to 2007 and Minister for Education and Young People from 2001 to 2003. Jamieson was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley from 1999 to 2011 and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kilmarnock and Loudoun from 2010 to 2015.
Born in Kilmarnock, Jamieson was educated at James Hamilton Academy and later studied Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art, before gaining a Higher National Diploma in Art at Goldsmiths College in London. She trained as an art therapist, but decided to take a career in social work. In 1983, Jamieson gained a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work from the University of Glasgow. After graduating, she worked in various posts within the Strathclyde Regional Council and worked for Who Cares? Scotland from 1992 to 1999. Jamieson stood as a Labour candidate in the 1999 election to the 1st Scottish Parliament. After a successful campaign, she was elected to represent the Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency. As a backbencher, Jamieson various Scottish Parliament committees and was the deputy convenor of the European Committee. Following the death of Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish was elected Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland and Jamieson was elected unopposed as his deputy leader, the first officeholder. In the aftermath of McLeish's resignation, she served as the acting Leader until Jack McConnell was elected as the new Labour leader.
Following McConnell's appointment as First Minister of Scotland in 2001, Jamieson was appointed to the Scottish Cabinet to serve as the Minister for Education and Young People. As the Education Minister, she conducted a reform of the Scottish Qualifications Authority and successfully passed the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 through the parliament, which sought to set up a list of people unsuitable to work with children, maintained by Disclosure Scotland. In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Jamieson was re-elected and was appointed the Minister for Justice in McConnell's second cabinet reshuffle. As the Justice Minister, she took a leading role on anti-social behaviour, tackling violence and sectarianism and commissioned a major review of Scotland's Civil Justice system. Jamieson made attempts to ban Buckfast, a popular drink among underage drinkers, however, she was unsuccessful as the company threatened to take legal action against the Scottish Executive. In early 2005, it was revealed her nephew, Derek Hyslop, tried to blackmail her. In 1999, Jamieson sent £100 to Hyslop following the birth of his son, but he claimed it was sent to help him evade the police while he was on the run.
At the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish Labour Party were defeated by the Scottish National Party (SNP), by just a single seat; ending eight years of Labour-Lib Dem devolved governance in Scotland. McConnell announced his resignation as the Leader of Scottish Labour and Jamieson served as acting leader until Wendy Alexander was elected. Jamieson continued to serve as the Deputy Leader until she resigned in June 2008 to stand for election as the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland following Alexander's resignation. She came second, having been defeated by Iain Gray. Jamieson was appointed by Gray as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. Jamieson stood down as an MSP in the 2011 election and ran as a candidate at the 2010 UK general election. She was elected to the House of Commons, representing the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency. Under Ed Miliband, Jamieson was appointed in 2011 as the Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury within the Official Opposition frontbench. At the 2015 general election, she was defeated by the SNP candidate Alan Brown, at what was a landslide defeat for Scottish Labour after 51 years of domination of Scottish politics at Westminster.
Since leaving Parliament, Jamieson became CEO of CareVisions Ltd. In May 2018, she was appointed to the Kilmarnock Football Club board of directors.
Catherine Mary Jamieson was born on 3 November 1956 in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. Jamieson was educated at James Hamilton Academy, before obtaining a BA (Hons) in Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art and a Higher National Diploma in Art at Goldsmiths College in London. She gained a Management qualification from the Glasgow Caledonian University and later a post graduate Certificate of Qualification in social work from the University of Glasgow.
After training as an art therapist, Jamieson turned to social work, becoming principal officer of an advocacy organisation for young people in care. She was also a member of the Edinburgh inquiry into abuse in residential care and served on the management and advisory committees of several childcare agencies.
Jamieson was elected an MSP in the first 1999 Scottish Parliament election. She was elected Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party in 2000 in leadership elections following the death of First Minister, Donald Dewar. The position of Deputy Leader was a first for the Scottish party, and Jamieson was elected unopposed.
Labour in government: 2001–2007
Minister for Education and Young People: 2001–2003
In 2001, Jack McConnell became First Minister and Jamieson was appointed Minister for Education and Young People in the subsequent cabinet reshuffle. She successfully shepherded the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 through parliament – legislation which set up a list of people unsuitable to work with children, to be maintained by Disclosure Scotland.
During her tenure as education minister, Jamieson reformed the Scottish Qualifications Authority to reduce bureaucracy, and commenced the largest school building programme seen in Scotland. During the UK-wide fire strike in 2002, Jamieson was criticised for refusing to publicly endorse the Executive's collectively agreed description of the fire strike as "unacceptable", and opposition MSPs called for her to be sacked. However, the First Minister issued a statement of public support for Jamieson and took no action.
Minister for Justice: 2003–2007
Jamieson was appointed Minister for Justice following the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. During her tenure, in addition to taking a substantial justice legislative programme through parliament (14 bills including reform of courts, protections for vulnerable witnesses, measures on the management of offenders, policing, family law, legal aid, the legal profession and the establishment of the Scottish Commission on Human Rights) she took a leading role on anti-social behaviour, tackling violence and sectarianism and commissioned a major review of Scotland's Civil Justice system.
In February 2005, it was revealed that Jamieson's nephew, Derek Hyslop, tried to blackmail her in 2001 while she was Education Minister. Hyslop was serving a jail sentence for manslaughter, and sent her a Christmas card demanding money, threatening to reveal his criminal convictions if she did not pay him. Jamieson had paid £100 into his bank account in 1999, following the birth of his son, and Hyslop tried to claim that she made the payment to help him evade the police while he was on the run.
One of the major crises to face Jamieson during her time as Minister for Justice, was the scandals occurring after the transfer of prisoner escort duties from the police to a private company, Reliance Security Group. Four days following the transfer, Reliance accidentally released a convicted killer at Hamilton Sheriff Court. Jamieson later criticised Reliance and their security methods, but defended the principle of using a private company to transfer prisoners. Opposition parties later called for her to resign, calls that Jamieson rejected, stating "I think the responsibility on a minister is to ensure that problems are solved... Some people in the face of problems might turn away, might walk away from them. I have no intention of doing that and I never did."