Ann Henderson is a campaigner in the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

and former

Rector of the University of Edinburgh The Lord Rector of The University of Edinburgh is elected every three years by the students and staff at The University of Edinburgh. Seldom referred to as ''Lord Rector'', the incumbent is more commonly known just as the ''Rector''. Role Th ...

Early life

Henderson graduated from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

with an MA in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and Social Administration in 1978. While at Edinburgh, she was involved in editing '' The Student'' newspaper. She subsequently gained a diploma in Youth and Community Work from Manchester Polytechnic (now

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

Career

From 1982, Henderson worked in the rail industry, employed as a ticket collector, guard and ultimately becoming one of Scotland's first female train drivers in 1992. During this time, she played an active role in the

National Union of Railwaymen The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement. History The NUR was an industrial union ...

trade union, now the RMT union. Henderson set up the NUR Women's Advisory Committee in 1987 and campaigned for gender and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

. She played an important role in developing policies on sexual harassment, equality and representing women in the rail industry. She left the RMT in late 2007 to take up a position as Assistant Secretary of the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the National trade union center, national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation ...

(STUC) in late 2007. Henderson has also been active as a campaigner for women more generally, taking up a position with the Women's Aid Organisation in 1996 and serving on the

UNIFEM The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, french: Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme, ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the International ...

UK Board from 2002-2005. Henderson was employed as a researcher and parliamentary assistant to

Susan Deacon Susan Catherine Deacon (born 2 February 1964) is a former Scottish Labour politician, and public figure who has held leadership roles across the private, public and third sectors, and in academia and national politics. She was the Member of the ...

MSP in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, where she also served as Scottish Commissioner on the

Women's National Commission The Women's National Commission (often shortened to WNC) was an advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) set up in 1969 by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson to advise the United Kingdom's government on women's views, and to act as an umbrell ...

from 2008-2010. Henderson was an active member of Campaign for Socialism, an autonomous pressure group of

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

members and stood in the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electi ...

as a Labour Party candidate for the Lothian electoral region. She was shortlisted as a Labour Party candidate for the Morningside ward in the 2017 City of Edinburgh Council election. In February 2018, Henderson was voted

, becoming the second woman to hold the position following

Muriel Gray Muriel Janet Gray FRSE (born 30 August 1958) is a Scottish author, broadcaster and journalist. She came to public notice as an interviewer on Channel 4's alternative pop-show ''The Tube'', and then appeared as a regular presenter on BBC radio ...

. She beat the only other candidate, Marco Bauder, with 77% of the vote. She replaced the outgoing Rector, Steve Morrison. In 2021, it was announced Henderson would leave the role by March 1, with Debora Kayembe set to take over her role. In June 2021, the ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specific ...

'' reported that Henderson had been falsely accused of transphobia by students at Edinburgh University, and that Henderson claimed to have been the target of an abusive campaign after calling for reasoned debate on gender recognition reforms.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Ann Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish Labour parliamentary candidates Rectors of the University of Edinburgh Scottish trade unionists