Margaret Patricia Curran (born 24 November 1958) is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2010 to 2015 and was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from 2011 until 2015. She was previously the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Baillieston from 1999 to 2011, and held a number of posts within the Scottish Executive, including Minister for Parliamentary Business, Minister for Social Justice and Minister for Communities. Early life and education Curran was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Irish parents James Curran and Rose McConnellogue. She was educated at Our Lady and St Francis School in Glasgow. Curran attended the University of Glasgow, where she graduated with an MA degree in History and Economic History in 1981. She first became politically active in the university's Labour Club in the late 1970s, where she was associated with future Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont and future Labour MSP Sarah Boyack. She held several posts in Labour student politics, including secretary and vice-chair of Glasgow University Labour Club, and chair and secretary of the Scottish Organisation of Labour Students. In 1977, she was involved in the unsuccessful campaign to elect Hortensia Allende, the former First Lady of Chile, as Rector of the University of Glasgow. She was a community worker, and then a lecturer in community education at the University of Strathclyde, a subject she holds a Certificate in. Curran was Mohammad Sarwar's election agent at Glasgow Govan for the 1997 general election. In 2021, Sarwar's son Anas became Leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Member of the Scottish Parliament In 1999 Curran was elected to the new Scottish Parliament, and was promoted to a junior minister when Henry McLeish became First Minister and later became a member of the Scottish Executive. She served as convenor of the Social Inclusion committee, then was promoted to Deputy Minister for Social Justice. She then rose to become minister in that portfolio, which later changed to Minister for Communities, introducing the Homelessness (Scotland) Bill in September 2002. She held the position of Minister for Parliamentary Business from 2004 until 2007. She was re-elected comfortably in 2003 and again in 2007. Given Scottish Labour's losses in that later election, she was widely viewed as a popular potential successor to Jack McConnell as its leader, but decided not