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The Alice Bacon Lecture 2026

Date
The Alice Bacon Lecture 2026
Uni of Leeds. Frances O’Grady, the former general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), will delivers the 2026 Alice Bacon Lecture at the University’s Great Hall on Thursday, March 12. ©Victor de Jesus

On Thursday 12 March, the Alice Bacon Lecture 2026 was delivered by former general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Labour peer Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway at the University of Leeds.

The lecture series, which honours the city of Leeds' first woman MP, celebrates the achievements of pioneering women and is jointly organised by the Centre for Democratic Politics and Right Honourable Rachel Reeves MP, who is also Alice Bacon's biographer.

Since the inaugural lecture in 2018, Baroness O’Grady is the seventh person to speak in the series, following in the wake of esteemed figures such as Naga Munchetty, Dame Professor Mary Beard, Dame Sharon White, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.

Baroness O’Grady delivered an important and timely lecture on the threat posed to women and girls by the rise of the far right and touched upon a range of issues including the 'manosphere', policy challenges and labour rights issues, as well reflecting on some her own personal experiences including as a female trade union leader.

Her talk was followed by a stimulating Q&A in which several audience members asked Baroness O’Grady about her views on issues including the impact of Artificial Intelligence, student loans and trade union affiliations with political parties.