Brian Finlay Ungagged Team

Brian Finlay

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Brian Finlay

 

Brian Finlay is the youngest son of a restaurant manager and council housing administrator. He was brought up in a pretty apolitical household where politics and policy were very rarely discussed. His hard working parents provided a lot of support, love and a very happy upbringing; so much so they’re Brian’s best friends as an adult.

Brian was born and raised in Hallglen in Falkirk and stayed there until he moved to Edinburgh at the age of eighteen and then to London one year later. He worked as a fashion retail manager for Topshop/Topman in various branches across London and Scotland prior to his moving away in 2005. Brian enjoyed the life in London and excelled in his career at a very early age but decided to return home to Scotland in 2011 to be closer to his family. It was then he decided to return to education after an eleven year gap and had always been in his thoughts and more overtly encouraged by his parents.

He attended Forth Valley College to gain entry level HNC and under took a BA (Hons) in Human Resource Management and successfully secured a first. It was during the time of his critical studies of employment practices and policy he became interested in politics. This interest was intensified during the Scottish Independence Referendum when he had to question, for the first time, what his core beliefs were and what he felt was the best for the country and society. During his studies he met his partner Glen, and Brian moved to Rutherglen in 2014 to live with him.

After backing a yes vote and the disappointment of the outcome he briefly joined the Scottish Socialist Party but left just one year later after feeling more aligned to the Scottish Green Party in early 2016. Moreover, since then he campaigned in many elections and even stood as a Scottish Green Party candidate in May 2017 Council Elections and a local by-election in November 2017.

Brian’s passion for writing came apparent during his studies. He overcame issues with his writing ability, grammar and was even encouraged to be tested for dyslexia. He, being tenacious, decided not to take the test and attempted to manage it himself and did so through his academic assignment feedback and writing in bi-weekly letters in The National newspaper. He had to stop writing for pleasure so much during the first semester of his MSc in Human Resource Management, at Strathclyde Business School, due to the intensity of work but finally started his #LeftyInABusinessSchool blog in January of this year. His future aspirations include taking on a PhD research project based around precarious work, becoming an academic and having an opinion column in a national newspaper.

In his very limited spare time Brian likes to write opinion pieces for his blog, travel on adventures around Scotland with Glen and go on international holidays to get some winter sun and relax. He is a proud vegetarian, and even enjoys Sunday morning political show and watching Question Time. He likes the quiet life after his party London lifestyle and enjoys nothing more than reading the paper on a day and drinking a glass of red and chilling at night.

Brian also loves a twitter duel with a Tory.

You can follow him on Twitter

Or his blog’s Facebook page: Left in a Business School

Or read more on his blog