NEC Elections 2024
UCU Left calls on members to vote for candidates who are committed to building the fights against the attacks faced by workers in Further, Higher and Prison Education.
UCU Left candidates stand for strengthening democracy in our union and for using the power of trade unions to fight for a more equal, sustainable and peaceful world.

| Post | Candidate | |
|---|---|---|
| Vice President | 1 | Rhiannon Lockley |
| Honorary Treasurer | 1 | Deepa Driver |
| Trustee | 1 2 | John Parrington Mike Barton |
| President UCU Scotland | 1 | Grant Buttars |
| Honorary Secretary UCU Scotland | 1 | Carlo Morelli |
| UK Elected FE | 1 2 | Sean Vernell Saleem Rashid |
| UK Elected HE | 1 2 3 | Richard Wild Rob Macmaster Michael Carley |
| North West FE | 1 | Nina Doran |
| North West HE | 1 2 | Peta Bulmer Bee Hughes |
| South FE | 1 | John Fones |
| South HE | 1 2 3 4 5 | Aris Katzourakis Ryan Burns Ellen Owens David Chivall Michael Carley |
| Midlands FE | 1 | Dharminder Chuhan |
| Disabled HE | 1 | Roddy Slorach |
| LGBT+ Members | 1 | Bee Hughes |
| Migrant Members | 1 | Patricia Prieto Blanco |
| Black Members | 1 | Nitin Rajyaguru |
| Casually Employed | 1 | Cecily Blyther |
Posts
- Reform UK feed off despair in local elections – we must offer hopeIn Thursday’s elections, the racist Reform UK party made a historic breakthrough whilst Labour’s vote collapsed. Reform UK took the most votes, most seats and overall control of most councils. In Wales, Plaid Cymru have formed a minority government, with Reform coming second. Labour lost control of the Senedd for the first time and have a …
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- Stop Reform UKWith just three weeks until the local elections, more than 5,000 council seats will be contested across England, alongside elections for the Senedd and Scottish Parliament. Reform UK now has 8 MPs, 983 local councillors, and representation in both the Senedd and Holyrood. In May’s elections Reform UK will be standing in 95% of the local …
- The movements converge to turn the tide on the far rightHalf a million people descended onto the streets of London on March 28th to show their opposition to the far right and to make clear that anti racists are the majority in Britain. They came from every corner of Britain. This was a movement built in towns, cities and villages from across the UK. The atmosphere …
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- 📣UCU marching Together against the far right📣It’s now only a few days until what looks set to be one of the biggest demonstrations against the far right in many years.Let’s make sure the UCU bloc is big and loud – bring your banners and your colleagues! 📍We’ll meet at midday at “Start Zone C, Position 7” https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dg4jCd2QxSTELULQ7🚌 If you’ve not got transport yet, you can …
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- NEC elections over: Now the fight for national action beginsThe results of UCU’s NEC elections were announced on Thursday. Many UCU Left candidates were successful – congratulations to all of them. And thank you to everyone who took part, whether by standing as a candidate or helping to get the vote out. UCU Left will still be in a minority on both the FEC and …
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- Scottish Higher Education at a turning point: What future?— Carlo Morelli, Dundee UCU Scotland’s free tuition: an impediment to re-colonialisation? Four UCU branches in Scotland have successfully balloted for industrial action; Strathclyde, Heriot Watt, Aberdeen and Stirling. This is alongside Dundee which has a current mandate and has taken 26 days of strike action since January 2025 and Edinburgh UCU which has initiated a …
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- Stop the Attack on Iran – No more War in the Middle EastUCU Left statement We condemn the attack on Iran by the US and Israel. The US under Donald Trump is attacking country after country. Trump has unleashed ICE thugs on Americans. He will not bring democracy to Iran: he does not support democracy in the USA. Bombing Iran will not support the movement for ‘Women, life, …
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- Stop the Bombing of Iran: This is ‘Regime Change,’ Not LiberationUS and Israel’s decision to bomb Iran has put the world in a very dangerous place. Trump’s initial address, informing the world that military action had started, claimed that this was an attack to ‘liberate the people of Iran.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead this action could very easily spiral into a wider …
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- Interview with Marion Hersh and Christina Paine on being a disabled UCU activist1. What does it feel like being a disabled UCU activist and NEC member? Christina: Being a disabled activist — and a long-term casualised worker with MS — means organising while simultaneously navigating structural precarity, trauma and high anxiety and instability. Multiple sclerosis is a fluctuating impairment operating within an ableist system. Fatigue, cognitive load, mobility …
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- How can we take the fight over casualisation forward?— Christina Paine and Sean Wallis in conversation Christina: Sean, what would you say are the priorities for UCU in the fight for secure contracts and decent employment conditions right now? Sean: The first thing is: we have to fight. A union that does not defend its most vulnerable members is not a union – it’s a …
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