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Maria Exall (born August 1960[1]) was thePresident of the Trades Union Congress for 2022–23, being appointed for her work in theCommunication Workers Union.
Maria Exall has aPhD in Philosophical Theology fromKing's College London.[2]
Exall was a care worker, and joined theConfederation of Health Service Employees. In 1988, she moved to work for theBT Group as a communications engineer, and joined the Communication Workers' Union.[3][4] She became active with theTrades Union Congress (TUC), specialising on equality in the workplace and liaising with the affiliatedLabour Party.[5] Exall supportedJeremy Corbyn in the2015 Labour Party leadership election.[6]
Exall chairs the TUC LGBT+ Committee, and serves on theGeneral Council of the TUC. She is also a vice president of the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom.[7] In 2022, she was elected asPresident of the TUC, the first out LGBT+ person to serve in the post.[4]
Exall is an honorary fellow of Catholic Social Thought and Practice in the Department of Theology and Religion atDurham University.[2] She was a founder member of the Cutting Edge Consortium, which argued that various exemptions for religious groups should be removed from theEquality Act 2010.[8]
Exall is a Catholic.[2] She is also a lesbian and has been in a civil partnership withDame Angela Eagle since 2008.[3][9][10][11]
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| Preceded by | President of the Trades Union Congress 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |