Ray Collins, Baron Collins of Highbury

Ray Collins, Baron Collins of Highbury

Ray Edward Harry Collins, Baron Collins of Highbury (born December 21, 1954 ) is an English trade unionist and Labor Party politician who was appointed General Secretary of the party on June 12, 2008.

Collins became head of the Transport and General Workers' Union headquarters in 1984 and held that post with short interruptions until 2008. He has been a Labor Party member for over 30 years and has been on the campaign team every year since 1970. He is the TGWU's representative in the party's National Policy Forum and a member of the National Constitutional Committee .

In December 2007 he was named 27th in the list of the 50 most influential LGBT people in British politics by LGBT newspaper Pink News . He was involved in the merger of the TGWU with Amicus , which resulted in Unite , one of the largest unions in the country.

Collins took his hat when it was reported that the party was on the verge of bankruptcy. In May 2008 the Electoral Commission , the British Parliament's committee responsible for party finance, found that the Labor Party owed £ 17.8 million.

On January 20, 2011, Collins was raised to life peer as Baron Collins of Highbury , of Highbury in the London Borough of Islington , and became a member of the House of Lords on January 24, 2011 , where he is a member of the Labor Party. In 2011 he was promoted to Whip .

Individual evidence

1. ^ "The 50 most powerful LGBT people in British politics", Pink News , December 27, 2007
2. ^ "Ray Collins is new Labor general secretary," Pink News , June 13, 2008
3. ^ House of Lords Minute of Proceedings for January 24, 2011 .
4. ^ Parliamentary biography .