Sue Slipman

Who is Sue Slipman?

Sue Slipman OBE was President of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom between 1977 and 1978. She later joined the National Union of Public Employees. Since then she has held a wide range of appointments and offices in the public sector and the field of training and education.

The youngest of three sisters from a close and happy though often poor working-class Jewish family and a graduate in English of the University of Wales, Lampeter, Slipman went on to PGCE at the University of London. A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, she was elected President of the NUS on the Broad Left ticket. She subsequently served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party before joining the Social Democratic Party as a founder member in 1981. Supported by David Owen, Slipman stood for the SDP in the working class constituency of Hayes & Harlington and came third.

Sue Slipman stated at the 1987 SDP conference that "The SDP should retain the classless opportunities provided by Thatcherism" and that "The SDP should civilise the Thatcherite project" and that "The SDP should be a friendly critic of Thatcherism".

From 1986-95 she was Director of the National Council for One Parent Families which she rallied in support of the Conservative Government's Child Support Agency though it led to harsh cuts in single parent benefit payments. Slipman went on to run the London TEC Council . Also a strong voice in women's issues, from 1992 she was a member of the Working Group on Women's Issues to the Secretary of State for Employment. She has also written a number of books aimed at improving the situation of women, and single parents, in the workplace.