Ray Edward Harry Collins, Baron Collins of Highbury (born 21 December 1954)[1] is a British politician and trade unionist serving as a Member of the House of Lords since 2011. A member of the Labour Party, he served as General Secretary of the Party from 2008 to 2011.[2] Collins has been Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa,[3] a Lord-in-waiting and Government spokesperson for Equalities since 2024.[4][5]
Trade unionist
editCollins was appointed Central Office Manager of the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1984 and held essentially the same post until 2008, being redesignated Head of Administration in the 1990s and Assistant General Secretary in 1999. He has been a member of the Labour Party for over thirty years and has campaigned for the party in every General Election since 1970. He was TGWU representative on the Labour Party National Policy Forum and a member of Labour's National Constitutional Committee. [citation needed]
He helped steer the TGWU into a merger with Amicus, creating Unite, one of the largest trade unions in the country.
Labour Party
editCollins took the helm because the party was reportedly close to bankruptcy. In May 2008, Electoral Commission figures showed the party was £17.8 million in debt.[6]
On 20 January 2011, Collins was created a life peer as Baron Collins of Highbury, of Highbury in the London Borough of Islington,[7] and was introduced in the House of Lords on 24 January 2011,[8] where he sits on the Labour benches. He was appointed a whip in 2011.[9] He was appointed Labour's Lords Spokesperson for International Development in 2013.[10]
On 10 July 2013 Collins was asked to review and make recommendations for internal Labour Party reform. His recommendations included replacing the electoral college system for selecting new leaders with a "one member, one vote" system. Mass membership would be encouraged by allowing "registered supporters" to join at a low cost, as well as full membership. Members from the trade unions would also have to explicitly "opt in" rather than "opt out" of paying a political levy to Labour. On 1 March 2014, at a special conference, the party largely adopted these recommendations.[11][12][13]
Personal life
editCollins married his partner Rafael in 2014.[14] He received a grant of arms, crest, supporters and badge from Garter Woodcock on 12 June 2015.[15]
Notes
edit- ^ As acting Leader
References
edit- ^ "Debretts". Debretts. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
- ^ "Labour Party press release". Labour.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Africa) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: 8 October 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ ""Ray Collins is new Labour general secretary", Pink News, 13 June 2008". Pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
- ^ "No. 59680". The London Gazette. 25 January 2011. p. 1161.
- ^ House of Lords Minute of Proceedings for 24 January 2011.
- ^ Parliamentary biography Archived 12 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Lord Collins of Highbury - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
- ^ Andrew Grice (28 February 2014). "Tony Blair backs Ed Miliband's internal Labour reforms". The Independent. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
- ^ Andrew Sparrow (1 March 2014). "Miliband wins vote on Labour party reforms with overwhelming majority". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
- ^ Ray Collins (February 2014). The Collins Review Into Labour Party Reform (PDF) (Report). Labour Party. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ^ Twitter - https://twitter.com/Lord_Collins
- ^ "January 2016 Newsletter (no. 45)". College of Arms. Retrieved 27 April 2022.