Education
She studied at the Roman Catholic Notre Dame College of Education, receiving a Diploma in Primary Education in 1974.
She studied at the Roman Catholic Notre Dame College of Education, receiving a Diploma in Primary Education in 1974.
Born to the Irish Cornelius Harvey and a Scottish mother, Susan, she went to Street Augustine"s Remote Control Secondary School on Liddesdale Road in Milton, East Dunbartonshire. From 1958-1965, she worked as a secretary. She joined the Labour Party in 1966 when she moved to Cumbernauld.
She was a primary school teacher from 1974-1994 before becoming a local councillor and eventual Provost of the former Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District Council.
McKenna was first elected in 1997 to represent the former Cumbernauld and Kilsyth seat, which she retained at the 2001 election. The seat was abolished for the 2005 general election and she contested the new Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East constituency, winning with a 1.1% swing against her to the Scottish National Party.
She retired at the 2010 general election. She was responsible for chairing the Labour Party"s vetting procedure for candidates for the first election for the Scottish Parliament.
52nd United Kingdom Parliament. 53rd United Kingdom Parliament. 54th United Kingdom Parliament]
This process saw many of the more left-oriented candidates rejected, including Dennis Canavan, Ian Davidson, Michael Connarty, all of whom were sitting Members of Parliament at the time, as well as Tommy Sheppard, a former Assistant General Secretary of the Labour Party in Scotland.
