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 is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, where she was a Labour peer and the first peeress from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 Of ...

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

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

in 1998,

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

in 2000, and

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

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

Gill Books Gill is an independent publisher and distributor based in Dublin, Ireland. History In 1856, Michael Henry Gill, printer for Dublin University, purchased the publishing and bookselling business of James McGlashan, and the company was renamed M ...

Early life and career

Blood was born off Roden Street, Donegal Road district of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

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 an inner city area of south Belfast, Northern Ireland, which is predominantly Protestant working-class. In 2018, the population was estimated to be around 4,000. It is a staunchly loyalist area and heartland of the paramilitary U ...

. 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 union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

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 trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

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 global charity headquartered in Barkingside in the London Borough of Redbridge. It was founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each ye ...

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 specializes in digital diplomacy and public diplomacy working with foreign governments and citizen diplomats to help build posi ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

ess as Baroness Blood, ''of

Blackwatertown Blackwatertown ( Irish: ''An Port Mór'') 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 th ...

in the County of Armagh'' on 31 July 1999. She was the first woman in Northern Ireland to be given a life peerage. In the May 2016 elections to the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

Baroness Blood made an appeal to the electorate to vote for the

Labour Party in Northern Ireland The Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI) is the UK Labour Party's regional constituency organisation that operates in Northern Ireland. The Labour Party is not a registered political party in Northern Ireland and does not currently contes ...

members standing as candidates on behalf of the Northern Ireland Representation Committee. The

Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party, often referred to as Labour, is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. The party has been describe ...

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 Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the Order of the British Empire Politicians from Belfast Trade unionists from Belfast Women autobiographers from Northern Ireland 21st-century autobiographers from Northern Ireland Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014