Desert Island Discs

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Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

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Desert Island Discs: Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC

Frances O'Grady, trade union leader

Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC

Frances O'Grady, TUC General Secretary, shares the soundtrack of her life.

Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, shares the eight discs, book and luxury item she would want if cast away on a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Frances O’Grady is the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the UK's umbrella group for unions, representing millions of workers. She is the first woman in the 154 year history of the TUC to hold this post, which she took up in 2013. 

Frances is the youngest of five children, and was brought up in Oxford. Her family has strong links with the trade union movement: her great grandfather and grandfather were founder members of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, and her father was a shop steward at the British Leyland plant in Cowley.  

Thanks to strong encouragement from one of her teachers, Frances was the first of her family to go to university, studying History and Politics at Manchester. After graduation, she moved to London and worked in shops and the hospitality industry, becoming a union rep before getting a job at the Transport and General Workers Union. She joined the TUC in 1994 as Campaigns Secretary, became Deputy General Secretary in 2003 and General Secretary a decade later. In 2020, during the pandemic, she worked with the government on the furlough scheme, providing support for workers whose usual employment.

In April 2022, she announced that she would step down from her post at the end of this year. 

DISC ONE: It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones
DISC TWO: Burn It Down by Dexys Midnight Runners 
DISC THREE: Double Barrel by Dave & Ansell Collins 
DISC FOUR: Atmosphere by Joy Division 
DISC FIVE: Funkin' for Jamaica by Tom Browne 
DISC SIX: Hello Stranger by Barbara Lewis 
DISC SEVEN: Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron
DISC EIGHT: A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke

BOOK CHOICE:  History by Elsa Morante 
LUXURY ITEM:  A painting set with edible paints  
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Double Barrel by Dave & Ansell Collins  

Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

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Desert Island Discs

Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC

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