Maria Exall (born August 1960) was the

President of the Trades Union Congress The president of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in United Kingdom, British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serv ...

for 2022–23, being appointed for her work in the Communication Workers Union.

Education

Maria Exall has a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Philosophical Theology from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Trade unionism

Exall was a care worker, and joined the

Confederation of Health Service Employees The Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) was a United Kingdom trade union representing workers primarily in the National Health Service. History The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the Mental Hospital and Institutional ...

. In 1988, she moved to work for the

BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

as a communications engineer, and joined the Communication Workers' Union. She became active with the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

(TUC), specialising on equality in the workplace and liaising with the affiliated Labour Party. Exall supported

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 ...

in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election. Exall chairs the TUC LGBT+ Committee, and serves on the

General Council of the TUC The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trades Union Congresses (TUC). Organisation The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...

. She is also a vice president of the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom. In 2022, she was elected as

President of the TUC The president of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serve just for the d ...

, the first out LGBT+ person to serve in the post.

Other work

Exall is an honorary fellow of Catholic Social Thought and Practice in the Department of Theology and Religion at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

. She was a founder member of the Cutting Edge Consortium, which argued that various exemptions for religious groups should be removed from the

Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 (c. 15) is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis o ...

Personal life

Exall is a Catholic. She is also a lesbian and has been in a civil partnership with Dame Angela Eagle since 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exall, Maria Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Lesbian trade unionists British trade union leaders British Catholics Alumni of King's College London Labour Party (UK) people 1960 births Living people