British stage and motion-picture actress noted for her tense portrayals of complex women. She was later known for her career in politics.

The daughter of a bricklayer, Jackson quit school at age 16 to join an amateur theatre group and soon won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After graduating she began working in repertory theatres as an actress and stage manager. She was discovered by Peter Brook for his Theatre of Cruelty revue, in which her career was established. In 1964 she had a stunning personal triumph when she portrayed Charlotte Corday in the London production of The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat . . . , better known as Marat/Sade. She repeated this role in the New York production of Marat/Sade in 1965 and in the film version (1967) of the play.

Jackson's performance in 1970 as Gudrun Brangwen in Ken Russell's motion picture Women in Love gained her both international acclaim and the Academy Award (1971) for best actress. She followed this success up with leading roles in The Music Lovers (1971), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), and A Touch of Class (1973), winning another Academy Award for the latter film. Jackson's screen persona was typically that of a highly intelligent, rather ironic, aloof woman who combines strength of character with a disturbing eroticism.

Jackson portrayed the English queen Elizabeth I both in the BBC television miniseries Elizabeth R (1971) and in the film Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). Her other film portrayals included the title role in Hedda (1975), a film adaptation of a play by Henrik Ibsen; The Incredible Sarah (1976); Stevie (1978); The Return of the Soldier (1982); and Turtle Diary (1985). Jackson won a seat in the House of Commons as a Labour Party candidate in 1992, and she later served as junior transport minister (1997–99). In 2000 she unsuccessfully ran for mayor of London, but she continued to hold her seat in Parliament. Jackson was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1978.