Background
She was born in Glasgow, a city where her father was a tram driver, and her mother was a domestic servant.
Member of the European Parliament politician
She was born in Glasgow, a city where her father was a tram driver, and her mother was a domestic servant.
She attended commercial college and was a councillor on Strathclyde Regional Council from 1974 to 1979, when she was elected to the European Parliament in the in 1979 for the first time.
She left school at the age of 14, and worked as a typist. He died in 1990. As an Member of the European Parliament she sat on the European Parliament"s Culture Committee as well as being involved in the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Gas Consumers Council. She was Life President of the Scottish Minorities Group (later Scottish Homosexual Rights Group and subsequently Outright Scotland).
Her lifetime of activity encompassed many fields.
She was an early and active campaigner against apartheid. She helped run the People"s Festival in 1949-1952 during the Edinburgh Festival.
The events helped create the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As a Glasgow city councillor, she organised the first charity Christmas card sales in the United Kingdom.
Buchan died in Brighton, East Sussex.
As a member of the council"s arts committee she was instrumental in providing funding for the first films made by Bill Forsyth, who went on to direct major United Kingdom and Hollywood films including Local Hero.