Brendan Barber is General Secretary of the TUC, which represents 53 unions with a total membership of around 6.2 million working in all sectors of the economy. 

Brendan was born in Southport and attended St Mary’s College in Crosby. After a gap year with VSO in Ghana, he took a degree in social sciences at City University London, where he became President of the Student Union. He joined the TUC in 1975, becoming Head of the Press Department in 1979 and the Industrial Relations Department in 1987 before being appointed Deputy General Secretary in 1993.  He was elected General Secretary in 2003 and has served on a number of public bodies, including the ACAS Council. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Court of the Bank of England.