He was first elected to the top job in 1997, the fourth general secretary in nine years. At the time, the lecturers’ union was seen as weak and in danger of going into the red.

In his appeal to members for another term in office, Mr Mackney said:

“Turning the union round since 1997 has been a joint endeavour. However, strategic leadership has also made a difference. Natfhe is in much better shape, respected and consulted by all principal government agencies and educational bodies.”

Under his leadership, the lecturers’ union, based in north London, has recruited more regional staff to back up the work of branch officers, worked closely with the Commission for Black Staff in FE and won legal battles on behalf of agency lecturers, part-timers and those with sex discrimination cases.

The union’s battle on behalf of FE lecturers for pay parity with schoolteachers continues.

Mr Mackney,52, became a part-time social studies lecturer at Poole Technical College in 1974 and went on to teach English for Speakers of Other Languages and Trade Union Studies. He became a branch secretary and then chairman for the union in 1976.

He is married to a lecturer and has a daughter, 14, and a son, aged 30. He lived most of his adult life in Birmingham, and moved to London when he became general secretary.