Born in Paisley to Anne (née Coyle) and William Joseph McKechin, she was educated at Paisley Grammar School[2][3] and Sacred Heart High School, before studying Scots law at the University of Strathclyde. She joined the Glasgow-based Pacitti Jones solicitors in 1983 as a solicitor, becoming a partner in 1990, she left the practice in 2000.[4]
She was elected to the House of Commons at the 2001 general election for the Glasgow Maryhill constituency, following the retirement of the previous Labour MP, Maria Fyfe. She retained the Maryhill seat with a majority of nearly 10,000 votes. In the boundary changes which came into force for the 2005 election, the Maryhill constituency was abolished, and McKechin was elected for the newly drawn Glasgow North constituency, but with a much-reduced majority of 3,338 over the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
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