Muriel Winifred Turner, Baroness Turner of Camden (née Price; 18 September 1927 – 26 February 2018) was a British

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 ...

politician and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

leader.

Career

Between 1970 and 1987 Turner was Assistant General Secretary of ASTMS (later

Manufacturing, Science and Finance Manufacturing, Science and Finance (or the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union; almost exclusively known as MSF) was a trade union in Britain. Over eighty members of Parliament (primarily members of the Labour Party) were members. Histor ...

, Amicus and now

Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union which was formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). Unite is the second largest trade union in the UK (after ...

). ''Women in Power: A-Z of Female Members of The House of Lords''
Retrieved 1 March 2018 From 1981 to 1987 she was a member of the

TUC General Council The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC). Organisation The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...

. She 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 ...

on 29 May 1985 taking the title Baroness Turner of Camden, of Camden in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. She had a particular interest in social welfare and pensions issues, and from 1987 until October 1996 was Front Bench Spokesperson on Employment for the Labour Opposition. She was Deputy Speaker 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 ...

between 2002 and 2008. She was a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission 1982–88; the Occupational Pensions Board 1977–93; Council Member, Occupational Pensions Advisory Service, 1989–2007; and chair, Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman Council 1994–97. She was a ranking member of British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom. Her membership in the House ended on 13 June 2017. She died eight months later, aged 90.

Personal life

In 1955, Muriel Price married Reginald Thomas Frederick Turner, MC, DFC. They did not have any children together but the marriage brought two step children. He predeceased her, dying in 1995. She was also vice-president of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...

and an Honorary Associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

. On 15 September 2010, Turner, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', stating their opposition to

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

's state visit to the UK.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Muriel, Baroness Turner Of Camden 1927 births 2018 deaths Labour Party (UK) life peers British humanists British trade union leaders British secularists Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Women trade unionists