Yep very good point. I think that was first to go at Essex wasn’t it?
06.03.2026 12:41
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Yep very good point. I think that was first to go at Essex wasn’t it?
Text reads: I am humbled and excited to be elected the next UCU Vice-President for Higher Education. Now is a devastatingly difficult and challenging time for our sectors and so many workers in post-16 education, but as a union we cannot succumb to despair. We have the skills, knowledge and capacity to help chart a way out of this mess and restore higher and further education. That you have put your trust in me to help do that is a huge honour and responsibility. I do not take this lightly. Thank you to the many thousands of members who voted for me and also to those who did not – we need to build better engagement in our union and part of that is voting, no matter who you voted for. I promised in my election materials to work hard to bring our union together and that is what I will do.
Text reads: Thank you to the other HE candidates Sean and Steve, both committed trade unionists. I know they will continue to fight for members and the future of Higher Education and I look forward to doing that alongside them. Congratulations to those elected to the National Executive Committee and commiserations to those who missed out this time. Your willingness to put yourself forward for election is hugely valued and I know you all will continue to contribute in other ways. So what next? Until the end of May, I’ll be tying up some loose ends and taking some time off to visit family and friends back in Australia. I will take up my role after UCU’s annual Congress at the end of May, this year in Harrogate.
Text reads: For the following three years, I will be lead negotiator for pay and conditions and for USS pensions across UK Higher Education, working with our team of elected negotiators and officials. I will also chair UCU’s Higher Education Committee and HE sector conferences, serve on other national committees and represent you in various forums. In 2029-30 I will become UCU’s President after the excellent Suzi Toole, who has also been elected as Vice-President for Further Education and will spend two years leading on further education matters before becoming President. She will take over from Dyfrig Jones, who succeeds early to the Presidential role for a two-year term this May, due to the casual vacancy that arose last year, replacing Maria Chondrogianni. Maria stays on as immediate past president, rounding out the presidential team. I want to again acknowledge David Hunter who stepped down as President-Elect last year for health reasons and continue to wish him and his family all the best.
A picture of two smiling people (Suzi Toole and Mark Pendleton) wearing UCU beanies. Text reads: That’s a lot of work, and a lot of moving parts, but at the heart of it will be my commitment to build a better union, alongside members and branches, and through that transform our sectors. I am ready and I know from the responses to this election that many of you are too. I’m looking forward to getting to work, together with you all.
UCU’s elections concluded this week and I am honoured to have been elected as the next Vice-President for Higher Education, to become President in 2029-30.
Thank you for all the support.
A short statement about the election and what’s to come after I take up the role in May.
"I dread even saying this... but I think that we've ended up in the wrong place on trans, and we've done that by treading very self-consciously and not actually following our hearts, which is that trans people are on the margins, they are vulnerable. "If the Labour Party doesn't look after trans people, what are we about? "They're most likely to get beaten up. They're the ones who are most likely to have prejudice against them. We should not be indulging in anything that marginalises them even more."
Emily Thornberry’s words on Radio 4 in response to the Green win in Gorton and Denton.
This is why wins like this are so important, whatever you may think of the Greens (much like the immigration rebellion brewing).
It’s a very ‘fuck the OU and Birkbeck in particular’ take isn’t it?
To describe amendments brought by disabled peers as “filibustering” really highlights the dismissive attitude towards the views of disabled people that seems to have been so prevalent in this debate
Any time someone asks me what German parenting is like I just point out that this is our Disney alternative
Using the term “low-skilled”, which has been primarily used as an attack on certain kinds of working class jobs and those done by women, as a way to distinguish between deserving and undeserving migrants is an especially great choice from a Labour government.
If your political strategy is to alienate your entire voter base and pave the way for a hard-right government, sure
My Dad escaped the Nazis in 1939 on the Kindertransport.
He went to night school then University, trained as a physicist. Married my mum, brought up 3 kids, all work in public sector.
Under these proposed rules, he would have been deported.
100% 'performatively cruel' @stellacreasy.bsky.social
Fallen pink and white petals beneath flowering ume trees
Just… how is this real?
#JohnDoesJapan
Can’t wait to get back into dating!
"I don't mind dusky ladies" beginning the new attempt-at-dating season with the opposite of a bang, so I am
CFPs open for the Gender & Sexuality PGR Conference 12 June 2026, Queen's University Belfast, ‘CRITICAL ENOUGH? Orientations of Authority and Resistance’ … delighted to be the keynote speaker. Abstracts due by 15 April 2026
CFPs open for the Gender & Sexuality PGR Conference
12 June 2026, Queen's University Belfast, ‘CRITICAL ENOUGH?
Orientations of Authority and Resistance’ … delighted to be the keynote speaker. Abstracts due by 15 April 2026
Look, I know female politicians get disproportionately critiqued for their fashion choices but dare I say that dressing like a Rent-A-Villain when you announce objectively evil policy changes might not be helping your case?
Excited to wake up to the news that apparently we are doing the Crusades again! Worked out really well last time.
Have somehow managed to bite both sides of my tongue in my sleep, I’m sure this is a sign of a great week ahead…
BadGuysRUs.com
Do it! Do it! Do it!!
Nothing quite like the desire to avoid major head trauma to take your mind of world war 3
Same for me tomorrow morning, although Wimbledon rather than the Wirral. Love that we are doing this to ourselves for fun
Normal service has resumed I see
📣 Competence standards klaxon! 📣
I do really like the approach this article is talking about (we have something similar on some modules here). But we HAVE to talk about speaking and presenting skills in the legal context of competence standards
wonkhe.com/blogs/stop-l...
Have we seen the last of unregulated psychologists in the family courts? My report on McFarlane's landmark judgment, Re Y. He says his ruling is not just about one person (Melanie Gill) but a whole system that failed to protect the children in this case. tinyurl.com/mvpbjjfs
I know it’s fun to take the piss out of Matt Goodwin, but can we take a minute to consider the plight of the Sex Matters trustee who stood on behalf of the traditional party of government? She just lost her deposit.
Feels good, doesn’t it?
Just quickly circling back to this…when is this happening?
Forget the STEM/Social Sciences/Humanities divide, we all love to see someone properly fall on their face
Tough morning for Goodwin, but doubt it hurts as much as when I beat him in the 2014 Political Studies Association Executive Committee elections.
I think the key takeaway from this election is that all it takes to really unite academics of all disciplines is Matt Goodwin loosing very badly.
