Will Jo Grady’s wafer-thin mandate weaken union bargaining hand?

While Jo Grady, who received 35% of first preference votes, may not a won a strong mandate, none of the other candidates can claim to have a stronger one. In particular, Saira Weiner, the SWP member and candidate of the UCU Left faction, won only 15% of first preferences. The more concerning feature of the results is that only 15% of UCU members voted. This is what the SWP/UCU Left want - low participation, weak democracy - because they would never get even 15% support for their extreme left, Trotskyist brand of politics if all members voted. Grady is the only one of the four candidates who has shown real commitment to involving all members when key decisions are made and her manifesto was the only one that offered a realistic strategy for increasing membership density and engagement - the key to increasing trade union power. Given the opposition she will face from an NEC dominated by UCU Left and the small group round Vicky Blake (disgruntled by her poor showing), she will have a difficult time implementing this strategy, but if she is not successful, membership numbers will continue to decline and the union risks spiraling further into hard left irrelevance.

Jo Grady achieved nothing in 5 years and her continued leadership is more likely to lose union members rather than gain them. Your hatred of UCU left epitomises the Union's problem - it it just a group of rival factions and this is what has disenchanted members and led to such a poor turnout. Of all of the GS candidates I didn't see anybody who would have united the Union. UCEA will be relishing the pay negotiations dealing with a union so weak, but at least now having left UCU I won't lose even more money being compelled to strike constantly for no gain.