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 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 ...

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

Education

Maria Exall has a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Philosophical Theology from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Trade unionism

Exall was a care worker, and joined the Confederation of Health Service Employees. In 1988, she moved to work for the BT Group as a communications engineer, and joined the Communication Workers' Union. She became active with the Trades Union Congress (TUC), specialising on equality in the workplace and liaising with the affiliated Labour Party. Exall supported Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election. Exall chairs the TUC LGBT+ Committee, and serves on the General Council of the TUC. 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 , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

. 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.

Personal life

Exall is a Catholic. She is also a lesbian and has been in a civil partnership with

Angela Eagle Dame Angela Eagle DBE (born 17 February 1961) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallasey since 1992. Eagle was born in Yorkshire and studied PPE at the University of Oxford, before working for t ...

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