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The Right Honourable
The Lord Prentis of Leeds
The Right Honourable The Lord Prentis of Leeds
	Prentis speaking at the Labour Party Conference in 2002
3rd General Secretary of UNISON
	In office; 1 January 2001 – 22 January 2021
Preceded by	Rodney Bickerstaffe
Succeeded by	Christina McAnea
Member of the House of Lords; Lord Temporal
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 18 November 2022; Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	29 May 1948 (age 76); Leeds, England
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University of London; London School of Economics; University of Warwick;

David Prentis, Baron Prentis of Leeds (born 29 May 1948)^[1]^[2] is a British trade unionist and former General Secretary of UNISON, the United Kingdom's largest trade union.^[3] He was originally elected in 2000. He was re-elected in March 2005 with 77% of the vote,^[4] in 2010 with 67% of the vote,^[5] and in 2015 with 49% of the vote.^[6]

Early life

Prentis was born and brought up in Leeds where he attended St Michael's College from 1959 to 1967. He went to the University of London where he took a BA in History, then studied Economic History at the London School of Economics. This was followed by a master's degree in Industrial Relations at the University of Warwick.^[2]

Trade unions

He joined NALGO in 1975, and in 1990 he became its deputy general secretary. He was UNISON's deputy general secretary (DGS) from its formation in July 1993, when it was formed from NALGO, NUPE and CoHSE.^[2]

UNISON leadership

In his role as the deputy general secretary, Prentis directed UNISON's national negotiating team and oversaw the union's policy making functions. He also drove through a strategic review of the union, aimed at delivering key reforms, to bring union services closer to the members. In 2001, he succeeded Rodney Bickerstaffe as General Secretary of UNISON, having been elected in February 2000.

Prentis was responsible for 1,500 staff and a turnover of around £160 million. As General Secretary, he received a total salary and benefits package worth £112,114 in the accounting year ending 31 December 2013.^[7]

He was a member of the TUC General Council, TUC executive committee and the Trade Union Labour Party Liaison Committee. He was elected President of the TUC for the year 2008.^[8]

In July 2020, he announced his decision to step down at the end of the year.^[9] Christina McAnea was elected as his successor in a ballot of members, in which she won 47.7% of the vote.^[10]

It was announced on 14 October 2022, that as part of the 2022 Special Honours, Prentis would receive a life peerage, sitting for the Labour Party.^[11] On 18 November 2022, he was created Baron Prentis of Leeds, of Harehills in the City of Leeds.^[12]

Public appointments

Trustee of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)^[2] and also Catalyst, two centre-left research bodies
Adviser to the Warwick Institute of Governance and Public Management
Visiting fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford
Member of various joint working parties with the government and the CBI
President of Unity Trust Bank
since, 1 June 2012, non-executive director of the Bank of England. The initial appointment is until 31 May 2015.^[13] For the accounting year 2013/14 non-executive directors of the Bank of England received total remuneration of £165,458.^[14]

Personal life

In 2000, he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus and stomach. He had much of his stomach removed, underwent chemotherapy, and then contracted MRSA in hospital. Since his recovery from cancer he has been unable to eat large meals.^[2]

References

^ Gary Daniels and John McIlroy, Trade Unions in a Neoliberal World
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Christopher Hope (24 July 2008). "Profile: Dave Prentis, an elder statesman of the awkward squad". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
^ "UNISON: The Public Service Union: 2017 Annual Return" (PDF). Gov.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ Unison.org.uk – About Dave Prentis. Retrieved 27 April 2006.
^ "Dave Prentis re-elected as UNISON General Secretary", UNISON, 22 June 2010
^ "Dave Prentis re-elected as UNISON general secretary", UNISON, 22 December 2015
^ "UNISON financial Statements, 2013" (PDF). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
^ "New TUC President elected in Brighton". Trades Union Congress. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
^ "Unison: Union boss Dave Prentis stepping down after 20 years". BBC News. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^ Parkinson, Justin (11 January 2021). "UK's biggest union elects first woman leader". BBC News. BBC.
^ "Political Peerages 2022". GOV.UK. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
^ "Bank of England | About the Bank | People & governance | The Court of Directors". Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
^ "Bank of England Annual Report, 2014" (PDF). p. 53. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.

External links

UNISON

News items

Trade union offices
Preceded by Alan Jinkinson	Deputy General Secretary of NALGO 1990–1993	Position abolished
New post	Deputy General Secretary of UNISON 1993–2000 With: Colm O'Kane and Tom Sawyer (1993–1994)	Succeeded by Keith Sonnet
Preceded by Rodney Bickerstaffe	General Secretary of UNISON 2001–2021	Succeeded by Christina McAnea
Preceded by Alison Shepherd	President of the Trades Union Congress 2008	Succeeded by Sheila Bearcroft
Preceded by Ylva Thörn	President of the Public Services International 2010–2023	Succeeded by Britta Lejon
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill	Gentlemen Baron Prentis of Leeds	Followed by The Lord Peach