Brenda Dean, Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, (29 April 1943 – 13 March 2018) was a British

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and Labour Party politician. As general secretary of SOGAT from 1985 until 1991, she was "the first woman elected to head a major industrial trade union."

Early life

She was born in Salford; her father was a railway signalman and her mother worked in a carpet factory. When she was a child the family moved to Eccles, and she attended Stretford High School for Girls.

Trade union career

She began her career as a trade unionist as a teenager, initially as a member of the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers. In 1972 she became assistant secretary of the Manchester branch of the print union SOGAT (Society of Graphical and Allied Trades), and became involved in negotiations over the introduction of new technology to the printing industry. Rising through the union hierarchy, she became President of SOGAT in 1983, and was elected as its General Secretary in 1985, becoming "the first woman elected to lead a major industrial union". She recognised the threats to her members' jobs of impending changes in the print industry, and, it later became clear, held private meetings with

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

in secret to discuss his plans. During the

Wapping dispute The Wapping dispute was a lengthy failed strike by print workers in London in 1986. Print unions tried to block distribution of ''The Sunday Times'', along with other newspapers in Rupert Murdoch's News International group, after production wa ...

of 1986/87, she "became one of the best-known trade union leaders in Britain." However, in her attempts to resolve the

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

, "she was bitterly denounced by some people in the militant Fleet Street chapels (union branches) as a “Judas”, she was derided as “a film star” because of her blond good looks and her leadership was decried when she put the survival of the union, with 90% of its members in the provinces, ahead of what was essentially a London dispute." In 1991, SOGAT became part of the Graphical, Paper and Media Union. Dean stood for the general secretaryship, but was narrowly defeated by Tony Dubbins, by 78,654 votes to 72,657. Instead, she became the union's deputy general secretary, serving for a single year before resigning.

Member of the House of Lords

Dean was raised to the peerage in October 1993 as Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, ''of Eccles in the County of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

'' and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1998. She was a member of the Labour opposition front bench in the House of Lords from 1994 until 1997, and a member of the

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned b ...

that published an influential report in 1997. She chaired the armed forces pay review body (1999-2004), the Covent Garden market authority (2005–13) and the Housing Corporation, now Homes England, (1997-2003); and was a member of the Royal Commission on House of Lords Reform in 1999.

Other activities

She was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

in 1992. Her autobiography, ''Hot Mettle'', deals largely with her tenure as SOGAT General Secretary at the time of

's battles with her own and other trades unions, notably the

. She was a vice-president of the Debating Group.Debating Group
, debatinggroup.org.uk; accessed 21 May 2015. She was interviewed by National Life Stories in 2007–8 for the 'Oral History of the British Press' collection held by the British Library.National Life Stories, 'Dean, Brenda (1 of 11) National Life Stories Collection: 'Oral History of the British Press', The British Library Board, 2007-8
Retrieved 7 October 2017 She became a director for Labour Tomorrow on 28 June 2016, an organisation that funds groups that oppose

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

as Labour leader.

Personal life

From 1977, her partner was Keith McDowall, later deputy director general of the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a British business interest group, which says it represents 190,000 businesses. The CBI has been described by the ''Financial Times'' as "Britain's biggest business lobby group". Incorporated by roy ...

; they married in 1988. Brenda Dean died on 13 March 2018, aged 74. Her death was described as "sudden" and "a shock" by Conservative peer Philip Norton.

References

External links

Catalogue of Dean's papers
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, Brenda Dean, Baroness 1943 births 2018 deaths Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Labour Party (UK) life peers General secretaries of British trade unions Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Salford Presidents of British trade unions