Baroness Mary Bousted is a Labour life peer, appointed in February 2023. She was Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, the largest education union in Europe with more than half a million members. She is also a Visiting Professor at the UCL Institute of Education and chairs the Teaching Commission, whose second report, Curriculum and Assessment for All?, was published in July 2023. 

Baroness Bousted is a member of the panel for the public inquiry into Orgreave and served as President of the TUC in 2017. A former English teacher, she has been an advocate for teachers throughout her professional career. She has also spoken openly about experiencing misogyny in both education and the trade union movement and is a committed feminist who has championed girls' right to be educated free from harassment and sexism in schools. 

Previously a regular commentator in the media, she now divides her time between her voting in the House of Lords, writing and research.