Re-elect Duncan Moore
Bea Gardner
Post-16 education is in deep crisis – the result of underfunding and a failed market model, which workers are being made to pay the price for. Up to 15,000 job cuts in universities, a £12,000 pay gap between further education (FE) teaching staff and their secondary school counterparts, course closures, excessive workloads and more. The need for the union to mount a serious campaign of action in defence of its members has never been clearer.
Yet as it stands, the majority in the existing leadership on the University and College Union (UCU) National Executive Committee (NEC) and the two sector sub-committees for Higher Education (HEC) and Further Education (FEC) are opposed to such action.
The general secretary, Jo Grady, and her supporters have presided over delays and retreats across both sectors and have undermined disputes. As a consequence, they have knocked the confidence of members.
The upcoming NEC elections are therefore pivotal. The left needs two more seats on the FEC. There is a real opportunity to tip the balance in favour of candidates who are serious about building a fighting, democratic union.
Socialist Party members have consistently argued that those who want UCU to be a fighting union stand the best chance of winning a majority if we can come together and agree on a shared slate between the ‘UCU Left’ group, which is dominated by the SWP (Socialist Workers Party), left independent candidates and Socialist Party members.
In the upcoming elections in January 2026, incumbent NEC and Socialist Party member Duncan Moore will be standing for re-election for one of the three UK-elected FE seats. Another Socialist Party member, Scott Hunter, also secured enough nominations to stand. Three UCU Left candidates and a left-leaning independent candidate are also nominated.
Duncan drafted an open letter, shared with left activists across the union, to see if an agreement could be reached between the left candidates about a single left slate. He appealed at least for an agreement not to stand against incumbent left NEC members.
As we go to press, attempts at discussion have not succeeded, though the open letter has sparked informal discussion. Members of the SWP accused Socialist Party member Marco Tesei of having stood against a left incumbent in the 2025 election, when he won one of two UK-elected FE seats.
This is not the case. Marco attempted to discuss with the UCU Left. He then wrote to the four other left candidates with an appeal to avoid standing against each other, emphasising that he was not standing against Sean Vernell as a left incumbent.
No agreement was reached; nonetheless Marco endorsed Sean in his election address and leaflets, but that wasn’t enough for him to win.
Despite having not reached agreement at this stage for the January 2026 election, in the interests of maximising the left vote, Scott Hunter has withdrawn from the election. There is still time for other left candidates to do the same, and we continue to appeal to the UCU Left not to run a candidate against sitting left NEC member Duncan Moore.
Read Duncan’s open letter
Dear comrades on the left,
I am writing to you in regard to the FE UK-elected slate in the upcoming NEC elections.
At least five of the nominated candidates for the three UK elected FE seats identify as being on the left of the union. Clearly not an optimal situation if our collective goals are both to win the three seats available on this slate and, more broadly, a much-needed majority on the NEC.
Many of us, left independents and members of UCU Left, have already been in discussion together and agree about the pressing need for unity in these elections. It would be such a setback for the union if those who do not have confidence in our members, and who try to pull back from a serious struggle, are strengthened on the executive.
But if we want a fighting leadership that can do justice to the determination of our members to fight for real improvements in pay, conditions and sectoral bargaining, we must now also agree, surely, on a left slate. In regard to the UK elected FE seats, that should include no more than three of us.
As a minimum we should at least agree not to stand against left incumbents.
Not only am I an incumbent UK-elected NEC member, I have a strong record of campaigning for serious action. Also, I will be able to contest the election campaign backed by a strong support network nationally, surely a benefit to us all. Another Socialist Party member, Scott Hunter, has sufficient nominations to be able to stand as part of an agreed slate.
What I think we should absolutely avoid on the UK-elected slate is a repeat of last year. Then, there were two seats available and four left candidates in the running. Marco Tesei invited the three other lefts to discuss how to maximise the votes for left candidates, including the possibility of a shared slate to avoid a four-way split. Unfortunately, such a discussion did not take place. Endorsements between left candidates were not enough to secure both seats for the left in that election.
Votes this year on the FEC have been extremely narrow. In this election we have an opportunity here to tip the vote in favour of committee members who will vote to back up members in action – but there is also a danger that our fragmentation results in further gains for those who have consistently voted to delay and disrupt members’ decisions for action.
I would like to suggest that the five nominated left candidates on the UK-elected slate, encouraged by you all, meet to discuss the above as soon as possible.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Duncan Moore with support from other Socialist Party members in UCU
