Her husband, Allen Adams, had been MP for
Paisley North until his death on 5 September 1990 at the age of 44 from a brain haemorrhage. Irene, who had served as his secretary during his time as MP, stood in
the subsequent by-election and despite a swing to the SNP, went on to win with 44% of the vote. She successfully defended the seat in the next three General Elections. As an MP, she had been outspoken on the issue of drug abuse and gang violence and received death threats. Despite being loyal to the Labour government of the day, Adams was seen as clearly on its left wing including being against the Iraq war, a
Eurosceptic and one of the more pro-
devolution Scottish Labour members. Within the Labour party, it was alleged that she had been the target of "bad mouthing" by fellow Labour MP
Tommy Graham, which lead to Graham's expulsion from the party in 1999. Adams was persuaded to stand down with the promise of a peerage, in order to allow sitting West Renfrewshire MP
Jim Sheridan to be selected to fight in the May 2005 election for the newly merged seat of
Paisley and Renfrewshire North. Following the general election, on 13 May 2005 it was announced that she would be created a
life peer as Baroness Adams of Craigielea, of Craigielea in the County of
Renfrewshire, on 28 June.
Peerage and expenses Despite no longer being a member of the House of Commons, Adams along with 13 other MPs was the subject of a court case over the release of information into parliamentary expenses. As a result of the widespread expenses scandal within parliament, she was ultimately asked pay over £50,000 which she initially refused to do. She currently lives in a converted mill in Paisley. ==References==