Marion on the picket line. Photo: Rob Williams

Vote Marion Lloyd for PCS president and a fighting NEC

From 16 April, ballot papers will go out to Public and Commercial Service Union (PCS) members to vote for a new National Executive Committee (NEC) and president. PCS organises workers in the civil service, in government agencies and other public sector bodies, and on outsourced government contracts.

Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden’s “radical reforms” and Rachel Reeves’s Spring Statement promise “the worst cuts since austerity” – a £2 billion axe to the civil service.

This includes 15% cuts to departmental budgets, tens of thousands of jobs to go, the abolition of NHS England with the loss of half the workforce, below-inflation pay rises, unsafe pensions, office closures, increased workload, and attacks on the working environment, including hybrid working. 

And this catalogue was all promised before the onset of economic chaos and potential downturn following Trump’s tariffs.

Elections are taking place this spring in a number of unions – the first time under Starmer’s government. They are all an opportunity for members to elect a fighting leadership that will stand up to Starmer and lead a serious campaign to defend members.

That is especially the case in the PCS union, where in last year’s elections members threw out the misnamed ‘Democracy Alliance/Left Unity’ group from its majority on the NEC. It had badly let members down during the strike wave.

Members elected a new left majority on the NEC – a ‘coalition of change’, including the Broad Left Network of PCS members who want a more fighting democratic union, in which Socialist Party members play a key role.

But the left majority on the NEC has been stymied all year by the actions of the union’s president and general secretary, Martin Cavanagh and Fran Heathcote. They are members of Left Unity and have effectively refused to accept that they have lost the majority and have acted to block the NEC at every turn.

Because the left does not have a 2/3 majority, the president has been able to rule by decree – ruling out of order everything the majority proposes to build a national campaign to defend members.

Marion Lloyd says:

Who wins these NEC elections is crucial.  Starmer and Reeves have demonstrated, despite the hopes of many PCS members, that there is little difference in attitude towards civil servants and all PCS members than the one demonstrated by the Tories.

This was clear as soon as Starmer entered Number 10, with attacks on winter fuel payments and retention of the two-child benefit cap.  And it continues in attacks against benefit claimants.

But public sector workers are in the firing line and yet again the first in line are civil servants and PCS members. The approach by Westminster impacts us all – no matter which part of the UK you work, no matter whether you are civil service, privatised or a partner organisation.

We must respond. The choice facing you is electing a leadership that acts as commentators and puts reports of these attacks down to ‘rogue journalists’, or a leadership who will build a serious campaign, capable of winning on the issues that matter most.

Vote for me and the team I stand with to build such a response.

This year’s election is the chance to increase the left majority so that it can’t just be blocked – and to elect a fighting president, Socialist Party member Marion Lloyd. 

The Broad Left Network demands:

  • Fight for every job – No to increases in workload, yes to properly staffed, high-quality public services
  • Inflation-proof pay rises that win back what we have lost – For a 10% pay rise as a first step, and for £15ph minimum wage
  • Flexible and hybrid working for all – No to quotas, no to office closures, yes to maximum flexibility for all
  • Defend and improve pensions
  • End privatisation – Bring outsourced work back inhouse. Facilities staff have fought valiantly for sick pay and fair treatment and are winning! No more privatisation
  • Equality at Work – Ensure that the full force of the union is felt to stamp out inequality and discrimination
  • Repeal Tory 50% turnout thresholds immediately, and all anti-trade union laws
  • For PCS and the trade union movement to lead the fight against racism and war. Demand jobs and homes in our communities, not racism!
  • No to climate injustice – A democratically run National Climate Service could lead decarbonisation with no worker left behind
  • For a political voice that represents the interests of union members, and campaigns against attacks on public services, pensions and disability benefits

PCS national elections 16 April – 9 May

Please vote for:

National President

  • Lloyd, Marion (DSIT)

Vice Presidents

  • Clarke, Eleanor (Cabinet Office)
  • Laidlaw, Bev (DWP)
  • Semple, Dave (DfE)
  • Wesley, Hector (HMRC)

National Executive Committee members

  • Awen, Eilonwy (HMRC)
  • Brittle, Fiona (Scottish govt)
  • Carlsen, Bryan (HSE)
  • Chown, Josh (Home Office)
  • Clark, Abi (DWP)
  • Clarke, Eleanor (Cabinet Office)
  • Criddle, Gemma (HMRC)
  • Dale, Joe (MHCLG)
  • Davidson, John (HMRC)
  • Day, Chris (National Archives)
  • Dennis, Alan (DSG)
  • Foley Doyle, Ella (HMRC)
  • Hamer, Chip (Sport England)
  • Heemskerk, Rachel (DWP)
  • Jones, David (MHCLG)
  • Laidlaw, Bev (DWP)
  • Lawton, Reece (DWP)
  • Lloyd, Marion (DSIT)
  • Marks, Chris (DWP)
  • Menezes-Jackson, Vijay (DWP)
  • Norris, Liat (MOJ)
  • Ritchie, Rob (Met Police)
  • Rosser, Jon-Paul (HMRC)
  • Semple, Dave (DfE)
  • Smith, John (HMRC)
  • Spencer, Gary (MHCLG)
  • Tweedale, Saorsa-Amatheia (DWP)
  • Williams, Katrine (DWP)
  • Wright, Annette (HMRC)
  • Young, Bobby (HMRC)

There are also slates of candidates in the DWP and HMRC group elections.