Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2026 [Draft]
I start by associating myself with the point that Anas Sarwar opened with—just remembering Jeane brings a smile to my face. That is tempered somewhat by Jackson Carlaw’s observation, as I have been at the receiving end of some of those eviscerations in the chamber, which was a usefully humbling experience for a first-time member.
I first met Jeane Freeman at a cocktail bar, Bluedog, on West George Street in Glasgow, where I was with Susan, Shirley-Anne Somerville and other former colleagues. It was an orange juice for me, although Jeane and Susan were having something much more sophisticated. I wanted to open with that because knowing Jeane at first through Susan was to know the incredible love that they had for each other, and that was a privilege to behold.
As Mike Russell noted in Jeane’s obituary, she started her party-political journey in the young communists. That was a proud tradition, and one that many of the leading feminists of recent decades started in. I mention that because I think that Jeane Freeman will probably be the last holder of high office in this country to have started out as part of that particular political movement, which means the end of quite a significant chapter in the political history of this country.
For the independence movement, which is how I got to know her, she was an incredible advocate of our cause, as someone who was serious, accomplished and a former senior figure in a Labour Administration. I had the privilege of speaking alongside her at a number of public meetings, including in places such as Bearsden, which were not exactly hotbeds of support for our cause, but where people were absolutely willing to listen to Jeane.
She exuded authority and had extensive knowledge, but I do not think that that was why people were so willing to listen; it was because she was so obviously and deeply passionate. She was not just a policy wonk; she was someone who was driven by a vision for this country of a fairer and more just Scotland. That was a vision that she brought to Parliament. As the First Minister said, it is most obvious in the social security system that we now have—a system that Jeane designed and that was intended to give people dignity and to lift them up, rather than punish them for the circumstances in which they found themselves. She built that system by listening to and trusting the people who most needed its support.
Jeane always saw politics as being about people. She had a clear vision and was of a deep ideological conviction, but that did not mean getting lost in political abstracts. She certainly did not see this Parliament as a place for pontificating. This was a place to get stuff done for the people who we represent. She was unquestionably one of the most able and talented people ever elected to this Parliament.
My thoughts, prayers and love are with Susan and Jeane’s whole family. I hope that they can take some comfort today from seeing how widely respected and loved she was and still is across the chamber.