Joani Reid: Granddaughter of Jimmy Reid on building her own legacy at Westminster

Jimmy Reid, a towering figure in the trade union movement, was once described as the “best MP Scotland never had”.

Now, decades later, his granddaughter is looking to build her own legacy at Westminster after being elected to represent East Kilbride and Strathaven.

Joani Reid was able to overturn a huge SNP majority in a constituency that previously saw Lisa Cameron switch allegiances from the nationalists to the Tories.

The novice parliamentarian may not have an office or any staff yet but is already setting her sights on making a big difference in the lives of her constituents.

Her late grandfather was a renowned activist who rose to international prominence during the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in of the early 1970s to stop Edward Heath’s Tory government closing down yards.

The New York Times described his barnstorming 1971 address to Glasgow University, titled Alienation, as the greatest speech since Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Reid, who died in 2010 aged 78, told students to reject the values and false morality of “self-centred and grasping” rampant capitalism.

And he followed up with the now immortal line: “A rat race is for rats. We’re not rats. We’re human beings.”

‘I’m not the second coming of Jimmy Reid’

Joani believes that famous speech has never been more relevant and said she has heard “horror stories” from constituents struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis.

The new MP jokes that she hopes people will not hold her maiden speech at Westminster to the same “impossible” standard but says her passion for politics was first ignited through conversations with her grandfather.

“I’m very clear to everybody that I’m not Jimmy Reid the second,” Joani said.

“He was a totally different beast. He was an agitator.

“The reason he was involved in politics was because he had a background in trade unionism and recognised that politics is the vehicle to really change society and people’s lives. It’s that influence that brought me into politics.

“He was from the outside. To make big changes you need to have people in the political system and then people on the outside of that system agitating for change.

“They are two completely essential roles but quite different. I see me as on one side of that and I would put him on the other.”

Joani studied politics and philosophy at Glasgow University before moving to London to do a Masters degree in public policy and management.

She became a councillor in Lewisham, tackling a range of issues including violence against women and girls and knife crime.

Joani moved to East Kilbride two years ago with her husband, two-year-old son James and four-year-old daughter Helena.

What would Reid have made of Starmer’s Labour Party?

Her grandfather’s path into public life could hardly have been more different.

He was brought up the son of a shipyard worker in Glasgow’s Gorbals and left school at 14 to become a shipyard engineer.

He joined the Communist Party and later the Labour Party, before going on to support the Scottish Socialists in the late 90s.

Reid joined the SNP in 2005 and was a strong supporter of Scottish independence.

So what would he make of Joani’s new boss, Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader who has ruled out another referendum and has been criticised for shutting out the hard-left within his own party?

Joani is, understandably, reluctant to speak for her grandfather.

The pair would have “in-depth discussions” and would not always agree but Joani says he would make sure she was motivated by the right intentions.

She said: “What would you rather have, a left wing firebrand who says the right things or a thoughtful, committed, solid politician who is actually going to deliver the changes that our country and communities need?

“I know what I’d prefer.”

Joani added: “My grandpa was obviously of the left. He started as a communist.

“But he was also a pragmatist. He supported Neil Kinnock through his leadership and election campaign.

“There’s no point in being ideological and right but not being able to take people with you in a way that previous leaders of the party were unable to do.

“Anyone from the left, whether it’s slightly left of centre or far left, are all going to be in agreement that we had to get rid of that Tory government.”