The Baroness Prosser | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| Life peerage 11 June 2004 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1937-08-22)22 August 1937 (age 88) |
Margaret Theresa Prosser, Baroness Prosser,OBE (born 22 August 1937) is aLabourlife peer and former trade unionist.
Prosser was born on 22 August 1937 inTooting,London,[1] the daughter of Frederick James and Lillian (née Barry) Prosser.[2]
She was educated at St Boniface Primary School, Tooting andSt Philomena's School, Carshalton.[3] She studied as a mature student atNorth East London Polytechnic, qualifying with a Post-graduate Diploma in Advice and Information Studies in 1977.[citation needed]
Prosser became active in the Labour party and the trades union movement in the early 1970s, rising through the ranks of theTransport and General Workers' Union (T&G) to become Deputy General Secretary in 1998.[4] She wasPresident of the Trades Union Congress in 1996.
She was a member of theEqual Opportunities Commission 1985–92 and theLow Pay Commission 2000–05. She was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the1997 Birthday Honours.[5] From 1996 to 2001 she wasTreasurer of the Labour Party.[6]From 2002 to 2006 she was Chair of theWomen's National Commission.[7][8]
On 11 June 2004, she was createdBaroness Prosser, ofBattersea in theLondon Borough of Wandsworth.[7][9] From 1 November 2004 to 31 October 2010 she was a Non-Executive Director ofRoyal Mail plc.[10][11]
From 2006 to 2012 she served as Deputy Chair of theCommission for Equality and Human Rights.[7][12] In 2012 she published her autobiographyYour Seat is at the End, written with Greg Watts and with a foreword byTony Blair.[3] As of 2019, Prosser is a Chair of The Board of Trustees of theIndustry and Parliament Trust, which works to promote an understanding of business amongst parliamentarians and policymakers.[13]
She is a director of Progress Limited, a political think-tank and registered charity.[14]
In 2020 she brought a House of Lords private member's bill for equal pay in the workplace, supported by theFawcett Society.[15]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Treasurer of the Labour Party 1996–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by | Women's Officer of theTransport and General Workers' Union 1985–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Jack Adams | Deputy General Secretary of theTransport and General Workers' Union 1998–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Trades Union Congress 1996 | Succeeded by |
