The President of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trade unionism 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 ( ...

History

Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

(TUC) itself, and would serve just for the duration of the congress. Early standing orders stated that preference had to be given to a candidate from the city where the congress was being held; they were not necessarily well-known figures. In 1900, the standing orders were changed to state that the presidency would be filled by the person who had chaired the

Parliamentary Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

over the previous year. As a result, before 1900, numerous people served as Chair of the Parliamentary Committee without becoming President; after this date, Presidents were prominent figures in the national trade union movement. The Parliamentary Committee was replaced by the

General Council General council may refer to: In education: * General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland * General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...

in 1921, and the system continued. There were still rare occasions where the Chair did not become President.

Margaret Bondfield Margaret Grace Bondfield (17 March 1873 – 16 June 1953) was a British Labour Party politician, trade unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor in th ...

, who was elected as Chair in 1923, resigned to accept a government post before becoming President.

George Isaacs George Alfred Isaacs JP DL (28 May 1883 – 26 April 1979) was a British politician and trades unionist who served in the government of Clement Attlee. Isaacs was born in Finsbury to a Methodist family. He married Flora Beasley (1884–1962 ...

, who was elected as Chair in 1944, similarly resigned to accept a government post, and was replaced by the vice-president,

Ebby Edwards Ebby is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: * Ebby DeWeese (1904–1942), American football player * Ebby Edwards (1884–1961), English trade unionist * Ebby Halliday (1911– 2015), American realtor * Ebby Nelson-Addy (born ...

, who had presided over the previous year's congress.

, ''Annual Report of the 1945 Trades Union Congress'', p.23 In recent years, the President has once more been elected at the annual congress, but now officially fills the office for the remainder of the year and then presides over the following year's conference (in the years listed below).

Presidents to 1899

Presidents from 1900

References

Details of Past Congresses
{{DEFAULTSORT:President Of The Trades Union Congress Lists of British people

Trades Union Congress

History

Presidents to 1899

Presidents from 1900

See also

References