The hard Left candidate has been narrowly defeated in the race to be president of the country’s largest lecturers’ union, writes Lucy Ward.
Moderate Norman Jemison, a long-standing member of NATFHE’s national executive, will automatically become president in 1997-98 after being elected vice-president for the year before.
Mr Jemison gained around 400 more votes than Jefney Ashcroft, a member of the left-wing Socialist Lecturers’ Alliance, who secured a third of votes. Ms Ashcroft called for a strike ballot on contracts at last year’s conference.
NATFHE insiders say the elections have seen little change to the overall composition of the union. The 65-strong national executive still has 10 hard-Left members.
This could be the last set of elections for an executive of the present size. A December conference will revive proposals to cut the executive by more than half.
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