Muriel Turner, Baroness Turner of Camden

The Right Honourable
The Baroness Turner of Camden
Member of the House of Lords
In office
29 May 1985 – 13 June 2017
Personal details
Born
Muriel Winifred Price

(1922-09-18)18 September 1922
London, England
Died26 February 2018(2018-02-26) (aged 95)
London, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Reginald Turner
​
​
(m. 1955; died 1995)​

Muriel Winifred Turner, Baroness Turner of Camden (née Price; 18 September 1922 – 26 February 2018) was a British Labour politician and trade union leader.

Background

Muriel Winifred Price was born in Balham, London, on 18 September 1922, the daughter of George and Winifred (née Bishop) Price.[1][2] She spent her early years in Bromley, Kent.[2] After an early marriage to George Springall, in 1947, subsequently ended in divorce, she married Reginald Thomas Frederick Turner, MC, DFC, in 1955.[2][3] They did not have any children together but the marriage brought two step children.[4] He predeceased her, dying in 1995.[3]

Career

Between 1970 and 1987 Turner was Assistant General Secretary of ASTMS (later Manufacturing, Science and Finance, Amicus and now Unite the Union).[5][6] From 1981 to 1987 she was a member of the TUC General Council.[5]

She was created a Life Peer on 29 May 1985 taking the title Baroness Turner of Camden, of Camden in Greater London.[7] She had a particular interest in social welfare and pensions issues,[5] and from 1987 until October 1996 was Front Bench Spokesperson on Employment for the Labour Opposition.[6] She was Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords between 2002 and 2008.[5][8]

She was a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission 1982–88; the Occupational Pensions Board 1977–93; Council Member, Occupational Pensions Advisory Service, 1989–2007; and chair, Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman Council 1994–97. She was a ranking member of British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom.[8]

Her membership in the House ended on 13 June 2017.[9]

Personal life

Turner was vice-president of Humanists UK[10] and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.[11] On 15 September 2010, Turner, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK.[12]

Turner died in Croydon, London, on 26 February 2018, at the age of 95 (though many sources, using her publicly reported birth year of 1927, gave her age as 90).[2][13][14]

References

  1. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Jenkins, Lyndsey (2022). "Turner [née Price], Muriel Winifred, Baroness Turner of Camden (1922–2018), trade unionist and politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380611. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ a b "Turner of Camden". Who's Who 2018. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2017. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.38197.
  4. ^ Langdon, Julia (21 March 2018). "Lady Turner of Camden obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d Women in Power: A-Z of Female Members of The House of Lords. Retrieved 1 March 2018
  6. ^ a b The Committee Office, House of Commons. "House of Commons - Standards and Privileges - First Report". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  7. ^ "No. 50143". The London Gazette. 4 June 1985. p. 7725.
  8. ^ a b "Baroness Muriel Turner". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  9. ^ Non-attending Lords, parliament.uk, accessed 19 June 2017
  10. ^ "Distinguished supporters of Humanism Richard Norman and Colin Blakemore support H4BW » British Humanist Association". Humanism.org.uk. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  11. ^ "National Secular Society - Baroness Turner of Camden". Secularism.org.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Letters: Harsh judgments on the pope and religion". The Guardian. London. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  13. ^ "Humanists UK mourns Baroness Turner". Humanists UK. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  14. ^ "TURNER, MURIEL WINIFRED 1922 GRO Reference: DOR Q1/2018 in CROYDON (225-1B) Entry Number 516974142" (Document). General Register Office.
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