Angela Mason

Last updated

William Mason
​
(m. 1971⁠–⁠1980)​

(divorced)
Cllr
Angela Mason
CBE
Angela Mason.jpg
Angela Mason, speaking at the CHE conference, 2010
Director of Stonewall (1992–2002)
Chairman of The Fawcett Society (since 2007)
Domestic partner Elizabeth Wilson
Children1 daughter
EducationBasingstoke High School
Alma mater Bedford College, University of London
London School of Economics
Occupationactivist

Angela Margaret Mason [2] CBE [3] (born 9 August 1944) is a British civil servant and activist, and a former director of the UK-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lobbying organisation Stonewall. She is a former Chair of the Fawcett Society, a UK women's rights campaigning organisation and a Labour Party councillor in Camden. [4]

Contents

Early life

Born Angela Margaret Weir in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, she grew up on the Isle of Sheppey and was educated at Basingstoke High School, Bedford College, University of London, and the London School of Economics. [5] She was an early member of the Gay Liberation Front in the UK.

Terrorism charges

She was one of the Stoke Newington Eight, who in 1972 were charged with planting or sending bombs which aimed to maim or kill government Ministers, their families and Conservative Party officials. She was one of the four accused who was acquitted following a long and still controversial trial. [6] Mason still refuses to discuss the trial in interviews as of 2016. [7]

Mason was an activist in the trade union and radical movements.

Career after Angry Brigade

Mason became a lecturer at the LSE then the Principal Solicitor for the London Borough of Camden. She became a member of gay rights organisation Stonewall in 1989, becoming its director in 1992.

In government

From 2003 to 2007, she was the director of the UK government's Women and Equality Unit, now the Government Equalities Office, with her high salary attracting media attention. [8] Mason has also been a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission and an advisor to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. Controversially she used her position as a senior civil servant to oppose one measure of legislative equality for gay people – protections against discrimination in the delivery of public and commercial services – in 2005 and 2006. [9] She was, however, unsuccessful and the measure was passed in the Equality Act 2006. She was awarded the OBE in 1999 [10] and promoted to CBE in 2007. [3]

Since 2007, she has been an advisor to IDeA, a government quango which provides guidelines and regulations for all local authorities in England on equality issues. She was also appointed as chair of the feminist group the Fawcett Society in the same year.

In 2010, she was elected as a Labour councillor to Camden London Borough Council; she represented the borough's Cantelowes ward. [11] She served as Deputy Leader of the borough council, and cabinet member for sustainability but was dismissed from the roles in May 2011. [4] She was, however, reappointed to the council's Cabinet the following year, and was Cabinet Member for Children until her retirement from the council in 2022.

Personal life

Mason married scriptwriter William Mason in 1971, they divorced in 1980 with Mason retaining her married surname. She is in a Civil Partnership with Marxist academic Elizabeth Wilson and has a daughter who was conceived by artificial insemination. [7] [8] [12]

Later life

See also

Business positions
Preceded by Director of Stonewall
1992–2002		Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa May</span> Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019

Theresa Mary, Lady May is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead from 1997 to 2024. May is the second female UK prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher, and the first woman to hold two of the Great Offices of State. Ideologically, May is a one-nation conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Twigg</span> British Labour Co-op politician

Stephen Twigg is a British Labour Co-op politician who has served as the 8th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association since August 2020. He served as Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, and for Liverpool West Derby from 2010 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yvette Cooper</span> British politician (born 1969)

Yvette Cooper is a British politician who has served as Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, Cooper has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, which has previously included Normanton, since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Eagle</span> British Labour politician

Maria Eagle is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Minister of State for Defence Procurement in the Ministry of Defence since 2024. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Garston and Halewood, now Liverpool Garston, since 1997. She served in the Shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall (charity)</span> UK-based charity and advocacy group for LGBT rights

Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynne Featherstone</span> British Liberal Democrat Politician

Lynne Choona Featherstone, Baroness Featherstone, is a British politician, businesswoman and Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minister for Women and Equalities</span> Ministerial role in the British Government

The Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom which leads the Government Equalities Office. This is an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that has responsibility for addressing all forms of discrimination, with particular emphasis on gender inequality. Prior to April 2019, the minister was based at the Home Office, DFID and DfE. Its counterpart in the shadow cabinet is the shadow secretary of state for women and equalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Summerskill</span> British LGBT advocate and journalist

Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill is chair of The Silver Line and director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, a consortium of 135 charities working across the GB criminal justice pathway. He was the chief executive of the UK-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality organisation Stonewall, the largest gay equality body in Europe, from 2003 to 2014. He has also worked as a businessman and journalist. Summerskill is an occasional contributor to The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Observer, The Times, Time Out and other publications. In 2015 he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British LGBT Awards In 2017, he was appointed by the UK government to the council (Board) of ACAS, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service. He was first appointed a trustee of the Silver Line in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Bellos</span> British businesswoman, radical feminist and gay-rights activist

Linda Ann Bellos is a British businesswoman, radical feminist and gay-rights activist. In 1981 she became the first woman of African descent to join the Spare Rib collective. She was elected to Lambeth Borough Council in London in 1985 and was the leader of the council from 1986 to 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi</span> British-Pakistani lawyer and Conservative politician

Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi, is a British lawyer, politician, and member of the House of Lords who served as co-chairwoman of the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2012. She served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition, first as the Minister without portfolio between 2010 and 2012, then as the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as the Minister of State for Faith and Communities, until her resignation citing her disagreement with the Government's policy relating to the Israel–Gaza conflict in August 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawcett Society</span> UK womens rights charity

The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. Originally named the London National Society for Women's Suffrage, and later as the London Society for Women's Suffrage, the organization was renamed The Fawcett Society in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria De Piero</span> British Labour politician

Gloria De Piero is a British broadcaster and former Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield from 2010 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tessa Jowell</span> British Labour politician and life peer

Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 1992 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meral Hussein-Ece, Baroness Hussein-Ece</span> British politician (born 1955)

Meral Hussein Ece, Baroness Hussein-Ece, is a British Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. She is the first woman of Turkish Cypriot origin to be a member of either house of Parliament after she was appointed a Liberal Democrat working peer on 28 May 2010. She was the Liberal Democrat Spokeswoman for Equalities from 2015 until 2016, under leader Tim Farron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicky Morgan</span> British politician (born 1972)

Nicola Ann Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2019 to 2020. She was the first woman to chair the Treasury Select Committee. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough from 2010 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camden London Borough Council</span> Local legislature in London, England

Camden London Borough Council, also known as Camden Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Camden in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010. The council meets at Camden Town Hall and has its main offices at 5 Pancras Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Hunt, Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green</span> Welsh administrator and former Chief Executive of Stonewall

Ruth Elizabeth Hunt, Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green is a Welsh administrator who was Chief Executive of UK-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans equality charity Stonewall, the largest LGBT equality body in Europe, from 2014 until her resignation in 2019.

Sarah Hayward is a British Labour Party politician who was Leader of the London Borough of Camden from 2012 to 2017. She successfully challenged Nasim Ali for leadership of the Labour group in 2012.

Rajesh Chada, known as Raj Chada, is a lawyer and Labour politician in England. He was the Leader of Camden London Borough Council from 2005 to 2006 and a councillor for Gospel Oak between 2002 and 2006.

References

  1. ↑ "Researcha" . Retrieved 4 December 2013.[ dead link ]
  2. ↑ Researcha.co.uk
  3. 1 2 "No. 58557". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2007. pp. 7–8.
  4. 1 2 "Ditching of deputy leader Angela Mason sparks an F-word quarrel". Camden New Journal. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Bright, Martin (24 November 2002). "The Observer profile: Angela Mason". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Martin Bright (3 February 2002). "Investigation: The Angry Brigade". Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  7. 1 2 Lucy Ward and Tania Branigan (14 November 2007). "Interview: Angela Mason". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  8. 1 2 A Labour crony is made [pounds sterling]80,000 voice of Britain's women; From anarchist bomb trial defendant to Establishment pillar., 22 November 2002
  9. ↑ Ward, Lucy; Branigan, Tania (14 November 2007). "Interview: Angela Mason". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)". BBC News. London. 12 June 1999. Archived from the original on 6 January 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  11. ↑ "Cantelowes – Camden elections 2010". .camden.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  12. ↑ Bright, Martin (24 November 2002). "The Observer profile: Angela Mason". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.