FDA President’s path to the union

7 Aug 2026 11:36 AM

Katherine Hutchinson speaks with the FDA’s newly elected President for 2026-2028, Leila Kelly, about her path to the union and what she considers to be the FDA’s biggest challenges during her Presidency.

FDA President Leila Kelly (left) at Annual Delegate Conference 2026 Photo: Graham Martin

Leila Kelly says personal experiences motivated her to pursue a career in public service, starting out in local government: “I grew up in the northeast of England in a single parent family. For a few years, we were on what was the equivalent of Universal Credit, and things were quite tough. I wanted to make sure that people in that situation were able to access the services they were entitled to and were treated with respect when they did so. So, after university, I decided that I’d look into welfare rights work.

“I started out working for a local authority, assessing housing and council tax benefit. Then I did advice work for a few years, advising on entitlement to benefits and housing rights. I had a very brief stint managing accommodation for homeless people, which is a tough job because you have vulnerable people in difficult situations and very limited resources with which to help them. It also made me appreciate that almost anyone can find themselves in that situation.”

At 30, Kelly says she realised she wanted a change in direction, deciding to go travelling to take some time to think about where she wanted to go in her career: “I thought, what I really like is using the law to solve problems for people. So, I’ll go and train as a solicitor.

“I had studied politics at university and was really interested in the rule of law, and the relationship between public bodies and individuals. And if you’re interested in that, one of the best places to work as a lawyer is in the government. Also, I’m a real believer in public service and giving something back.”

Her career as a lawyer in the civil service began in the then Department of Communities and Local Government, later working for the Government Legal Department (GLD) as an adviser for the then Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), followed by the Treasury, where she works now.

Kelly joined the FDA after being introduced to the union during an induction session for legal trainees. She became an active member during a machinery of government transfer from BEIS into GLD, and she became GLD’s Branch Convenor shortly after the transfer:

“I think the two things I’m most proud of from the time that I was there were: one, we changed the maternity leave policy in GLD so women to go back to the same job if they take more than six months maternity leave, unless they want to move to a new role… I know people who were forced to change role under the old policy, and I had a lot of friends who were very anxious during maternity leave or only took six months because of it, and we changed that. So now women don’t have to worry about it.

“Secondly, after writing letters to and holding a meeting with the Treasury Solicitor, secured overtime for Grade 6s and Grade 7s in GLD, which we previously hadn’t had.”

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