May Blood, Baroness Blood, (26 May 1938 – 21 October 2022) was a British politician who was a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, where she was a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

peer, and the first peeress from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, from 31 July 1999 to 4 September 2018. Blood was a founding member of the

Northern Ireland Women's Coalition The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (NIWC) was a minor cross-community political party in Northern Ireland from 1996 to 2006. The NIWC was founded by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams and Protestant social worker Pearl Sagar to contest ele ...

(NIWC). She was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

1995 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1995 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Offi ...

"for services to Equal Opportunities and to Industrial Relations". Blood received an honorary D.Univ. from

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

in 1998,

Queen's University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

in 2000 and

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

in 2001. In 2007 her autobiography, ''Watch my Lips, I'm Speaking'', was published by Gill Books.

Early life and career

Blood was born in the Shankill district of Belfast on 26 May 1938 and lived on Magnetic Street, a cross-community area of Belfast, with her mother and sister. Her father worked in the shipyard, but for the first six years of Blood's life he was away in the army. Her mother worked as a cook at Mackies foundry. Blood attended Donegall Road Methodist Church Primary School and went on to Linfield Secondary School on

Sandy Row Sandy Row () is a large inner city estate in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It lends its name to the surrounding residential community, which is predominantly Protestant working-class. The Sandy Row area had a population of 2,153 in 2001; in 2 ...

. After leaving school at age fourteen, she began working at a local linen mill. Blood joined the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

very soon after starting at the mill and would go on to deal with health and safety issues, such as long working hours, as well as wages. She remained at the mill until it closed in 1989 and during this time Blood became the

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

and was elected to the regional committee of the Transport and General Workers' Union.

Community work

In 1989, Blood became a community worker on a project for long-term unemployed men. She also worked with the Great Shankill Early Years Project as Information Officer from 1994 to 1998 where she helped to establish three community centres in the Shankill area, and as Chair for Early Years (Belfast) from 2000 to 2009. Blood was a Chair for

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

Northern Ireland committee from 2000 to 2009. In January 2013, Blood was awarded the

Grassroot Diplomat Grassroot Diplomat is a global non-profit, non-political, diplomatic consultancy established in 2013. The consultancy specialises in digital diplomacy and public diplomacy working with foreign governments and citizen diplomats to help build positi ...

Initiative Award under the Social Driver category for her tireless campaign for integrated education in Northern Ireland, where she helped to raise over £15 million.

Political career

Blood's political career began in the 1990s as she participated at a grassroots level in the

Peace Process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...

and helped set up

in 1996 where she was chosen to be Campaign Manager for the party. In 1995, Blood was appointed a member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for her labour relations work. Blood was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

ess as Baroness Blood, ''of

Blackwatertown Blackwatertown is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It sits on the River Blackwater, in the townland of Lisbofin, at the border with County Tyrone. The village is around north of Armagh city, and the villages of Benburb and ...

in the County of Armagh'' on 31 July 1999. She was the first woman in

to be given a life peerage. In the May 2016 elections to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

Baroness Blood made an appeal to the electorate to vote for the Labour Party in Northern Ireland members standing as candidates on behalf of the Northern Ireland Representation Committee. The

Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all gen ...

is not a registered political party in Northern Ireland and its members there are not permitted to stand for election as official Labour candidates. Blood retired from the House of Lords on 4 September 2018.

Personal life and death

Blood died from brain cancer on 21 October 2022, at the age of 84.

Books

Honours and awards

* 1995:

* 1997: Global Citizen's Circle Award * 1998: Honorary DUniv from Ulster University * 2000: Honorary DUniv from Queen's University of Belfast * 2001: Honorary DUniv from Open University * 2013: Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award

References

External links

Profile
theyworkforyou.com. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
Baroness Blood, Grassroot Diplomat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blood, May Blood, Baroness 1938 births 2022 deaths Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Members of the Order of the British Empire Politicians from Belfast British trade unionists Women autobiographers Autobiographers from Northern Ireland