Claire Baker was born on 4 March 1971 in Dunfermline to Margaret (née Edgar) and James Brennan.[1] She grew up in Kelty, and attended primary and secondary schools in Fife.[2] She studied for an MA (Hons) in English Language and Literature at the University of Edinburgh and in 1997 was awarded a PhD from the University of Glasgow.[1]
Career
Baker worked in a variety of research and policy posts. This included working as a Research Officer for the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Group from 1999 to 2002, Research Officer for the trade union Amicus from 2002 to 2004, and as Research and Information Manager at the Royal College of Nursing, Scotland from 2004 to 2005. Immediately prior to being elected to the Scottish Parliament, she was Policy Manager for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, the umbrella body for charities and community and voluntary organisations in Scotland.[1]
In the 2011 election, Baker contested the seat of Mid Fife and Glenrothes but lost to the SNP's Tricia Marwick, who subsequently resigned from the SNP to become the Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer. However, she was successfully returned to the Scottish Parliament as 2nd on Labour's Mid Scotland and Fife regional list.
In the Holyrood election of 2016, Baker unsuccessfully stood in the Kirkcaldy constituency and was defeated by David Torrance of the Scottish National Party, suffering a swing against Labour of 15.8%. She was subsequently returned to the Scottish Parliament as a member for Mid Scotland and Fife on the regional list as Labour's 2nd place candidate.
In 2011 she was Labour's Shadow Minister for Education in the Scottish Parliament[4][5] and the Deputy Convener of the Education and Culture Committee. She later served on the Scottish Labour front bench as spokesperson for Rural Affairs and Environment (2011–2014),[6] Culture, Europe and External Affairs (2014–2015),[7] and Democracy (covering "constitution, Europe, culture and power in society") (2015–2016).[8] Having served as Scottish Labour's spokesperson on Justice, Baker is currently Shadow Secretary for Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs.[9]
Baker backed the UK Government’s decision to introduce means-testing for the Winter Fuel Payment, voting in the Scottish Parliament against calls to reverse the decision.[11]
