- Name Jane Meagher
- Labour candidate for Portobello and Craigmillar
My story
For nine years, I was business manager, firstly for The City of Edinburgh Council’s Labour Group and then for the Labour Council Leader, helping to put Labour’s policies into practice. Before that, I worked in the council for 28 years in various community work posts across the city, for example running a community centre; as a youth worker and as an adult education worker and training officer.
All this experience means that I have an excellent understanding of how the council works politically, and across all its departments. It helps me understand the challenges faced in communities and how to tackle them.
I have been active against injustice all my adult life, including in the anti-apartheid movement in my teens, as a shop steward and Equalities Officer in my union, in the Women’s movement and as a founder member of Edinburgh’s Rape Crisis Centre.
Currently, I volunteer with Bethany overnight shelter, cooking and serving meals to people who are homeless, and with a children’s choir, sharing my love of singing with children from across Edinburgh.
Now I want to put all that experience to good use as a councillor for the benefit of the community I have lived in for 36 years.
My main campaign issues are:
Tackling the climate catastrophe
Improving social care by recruiting more workers so that care packages meet people’s needs
Ensuring more affordable housing
Fighting for good quality education and youth work to support young people to achieve the future they deserve after suffering during the pandemic.
What have been Labour’s achievements in Portobello/Craigmillar?
Built a new High School for Craigmillar
Built a new St John’s Primary school
Built new social housing in Bingham
Tell us something that few people know about you
I have 7 sisters and 2 brothers.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
