Until this Summer, Debbie was General Secretary of the GMB Trade Union – a general workers’ union with almost 650,000 members working in both public and private services. She was the most senior elected female trade union official among the larger trade unions and the youngest and first ever woman to hold the post of Deputy General Secretary within the GMB.

Debbie is also a member of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee and of the NEC’s Women, Race and Equalities Committee and Co-Convenor of the Joint Policy Commission with the Prime Minister. In 2005 she was appointed to serve on the Women & Work Commission tasked with examining the causes of the gender and opportunities gap. The WWC reported to Government in April 2006 with recommendations to close the gap.