Mary Bousted

Mary Winefride Bousted ("née" Bleasdale; born 15 September 1959, in Bolton, Lancashire, England) is the Joint General-Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) alongside Kevin Courtney. Bousted was formerly General Secretary of the teachers' union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) prior to its amalgamation with the National Union of Teachers, forming the NEU.
Early life.
Bousted is the daughter of Edward and Winefride Bleasdale. She attended St Osmund's RC Primary School in a deprived area of Bolton, Breightmet, where her father was the headmaster. She went to a Catholic girls' direct grant grammar school, the Mount St Joseph School. She was the second-youngest of eight children. Her mother was also a teacher, and supported the Labour Party. Her father supported the Liberals, and was determined for those at the primary school to pass the eleven-plus (the tests used in England and Northern Ireland to determine admission to selective secondary schools).
She attended the University of Hull, gaining a BA in English. From the University of Durham (Collingwood College), she gained a PGCE. From the UCL Institute of Education she gained an MA. Later from the University of York she gained a PhD.
Career.
She taught English from 1982-87 at Bentley Wood High School in Harrow. From 1988-91 she was Head of English at Whitmore High School in Harrow.
From 1991-95 she was a lecturer at the University of York, becoming Director of Initial Teacher Training from 1995-97.
From 1997-99 she was Head of Secondary Education at Edge Hill College, (which became Edge Hill University in 2006), then at the School of Education at Kingston University from 1999-2003.
In July 2010, Bousted was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Edge Hill University.
In September 2016 she was elected as President of the Trades Union Congress for 2016/17.
ATL.
She became General Secretary of the ATL in 2003.