Christina McAnea
McAnea (right) in 2021
4th General Secretary of UNISON
Assumed office
22 January 2021
Preceded byDave Prentis
Assistant General Secretary of UNISON
In office
May 2018 – 22 January 2021
Personal details
Born1958 (age 65–66)
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyLabour
Other political
affiliations		CPGB (c. 1974 – early 1980s)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Strathclyde

Christina McAnea (born 1958)[1] is a Scottish trade union leader. She was elected as general secretary of Unison in succession to Dave Prentis,[2] and took up the post on 22 January 2021.[3]

Early life and education

Christina McAnea was born in 1958 in Glasgow and grew up in the Drumchapel area, where she attended St. Pius School (now the location of Drumchapel High School).[2] She worked in the Civil Service, National Health Service and retail, before going to the University of Strathclyde to study English and history.[1][2]

Career

Early career

After university, she worked at Glasgow City Council as a housing officer before starting to work for the GMB, where she advised workers taking cases before their employers.[1][2]

Unison

McAnea has worked at Unison since its founding in 1993. She previously worked at the National and Local Government Officers' Association (NALGO), initially as women's officer, before its amalgamation into Unison.[1] She became one of five assistant general secretaries of Unison in May 2018.

General Secretary of Unison

McAnea was elected to succeed Dave Prentis as General Secretary of Unison on 11 January 2021, after winning 47.7% of the members' vote. Prentis had been General Secretary for 20 years. She took up office on 22 January 2021.

In 2023, McAnea was ranked ninth on the New Statesman’s Left Power List, described by the newspaper as having an extensive influence on the left.[4]

Personal life

McAnea lives in south London and is married.[2] She has two adult children.[2] McAnea is a member of the Labour Party. In the early 1980s,[1] she was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Philippa White, "Assistants' champion ready for pay battle", TES, 8 November 2002. Retrieved 11 January 2021
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Christina McAnea elected to lead UNISON, the UK's largest union | Press release | News". January 11, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Christina McAnea is the new general secretary of UNISON", UNISON, 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021
  4. ↑ Statesman, New (2023-05-17). "The New Statesman's left power list". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  5. ↑ "About Me". Vote Christina. Vote Christina. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
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