Anthea Irwin was the Scottish Socialist Party candidate in Glasgow North West at the UK general election, 2005. She won 1108 votes, 3.25%.

She grew up in Belfast. She now lives in Partick and works as a lecturer in Media Analysis at Glasgow Caledonian University, where she is a member of the EIS/ULA union.

She played an active role in the Save Our Hospitals campaign, fighting to save maternity services at the Queen Mother's and opposing cuts and privatisation across the Health Service. Anthea helps co-ordinate the SSP's women¹s network, which encourages women¹s more active engagement with political issues and campaigns. In her speech at the count she strongly voiced the SSP's opposition to the war in Iraq.

A few months later she married her election agent, Andy Harvey. She is currently (in December 2005) involved in the "Save Our Schools" campaign, opposing school closures in north-west Glasgow.