Cat Boyd is a Scottish trade union activist and a co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign and RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance.

Her mother, Isabelle Boyd, is a former headteacher who was also the Assistant Chief Executive for Education, Youth and Communities at North Lanarkshire Council, and accepted a CBE in 2009.

Boyd was seen as a spokesperson as speculation grew around a socialist challenge being formed for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2016,[8] having been involved with protests against austerity[9] and appearing at The Left Field at the 2015 Glastonbury Festival.

[13] After the alliance was launched at the end of August, with support from the Scottish Socialist Party,[14][15] Boyd said she thought RISE would appeal to ex-Labour voters.

[16] In January 2016, RISE announced that they had selected Boyd as a candidate for the Scottish Parliament election in 2016 and that she would top their regional list for Glasgow.