Richard Rosser, Baron Rosser

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Richard Andrew Rosser, Baron Rosser (born 5 October 1944) is a British former trade union leader and politician.

Initially employed by London Transport he joined the staff of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) early in his working career, representing London Transport's white-collar staff in negotiations with the management. He rose through the ranks of the TSSA to be an Assistant General Secretary (one of two, at the time), and in 1989 he was elected General Secretary of the union (i.e. in day-to-day control, but answerable to an elected Executive Committee of lay members, and to the Annual Conference). Rosser was re-elected twice, serving a total of fifteen years in office before his retirement in 2004 – a record second only to the thirty years (1906-1936) served by Alexander Walkden. During his time at the TSSA, Rosser was also a magistrate and was Chairman of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party in 1997-98.

Following his retirement from TSSA he was made a life peer as Baron Rosser, of Ickenham in the London Borough of Hillingdon, taking his seat in the House of Lords on the Labour Party benches in the summer of 2004. In addition to transport matters, he takes an interest in penal policy, being chair of the Prison Service Audit Committee and a non-executive member of the Prison Service change programme board.