NEC Elections 2025: branch nominations

UNISON’s National Executive Council runs our union and determines the kind of union we are and can become. It is made up of 68 UNISON members just like you! NEC elections this year are hugely important to determine whether UNISON succeeds and wins for you at work and on pay.

Two West Sussex branch members are standing in this year’s elections: Dan Sartin and Abi Holdsworth. Dan and Abi are incumbent members of the UNISON NEC.

How the election works

Voting will be from 21 April to 21 May. Lookout for your ballot paper which will be posted to your home address.

Members can vote in all the regional seats and all the national Black and disabled member seats, regardless of your own ethnicity or whether you consider yourself disabled or not.

Members will only be able to vote for the service group candidates for the service group you are a member of e.g. Local government only. And members only get a vote in the Young Member seats if you are under 30 years old.

Members are strongly encouraged to use all the votes available to them.

Who the West Sussex branch is backing

UNISON, like any organisation, needs to change and adapt to new conditions if it is to succeed. The West Sussex branch believes that the candidates we nominated will continue to see through the kind of changes we need in UNISON and will deliver on their promises.

  • UNISON must be a member-led union – we believe this means that elected members should run our union, not appointed full-time officials. Elected representatives must be the real leaders.
  • We need to be an organising, not a servicing, union – we cannot solve all of our members’ problems on a one-by-one basis. Members will always need individual support, but the focus should be on collective action.
  • The pay crisis – UNISON must end the scourge of low pay. We need to deliver on national pay negotiations. We cannot simply approach pay negotiations the way that UNISON’s leadership has done in the past.
  • UNISON should play a positive but challenging role with the Labour Government. We should promote UNISON policy on public services, and not accept austerity as inevitable from any government.
  • We must review UNISON’s main legal services contract and particularly the difficulties branches have accessing timely employment law advice.

Take part in UNISON’s NEC elections. It’s your union, so have your say in how it’s run!

Dan Sartin

South East General seat West Sussex branch

Abi Holdsworth

South East Female seat West Sussex branch

Corinna Edwards-Colledge

South East Female seat Brighton LG branch

Rachel Cox

South East Reserved seat Oxfordshire Health branch

Amerit Rait

Black members Male seat Imperial College Healthcare branch

Antonia Bright

Black members Female seat SOAS UNISON branch

Julia Mwaluke

Black members Reserved seat Salford City branch

April Ashley

Black members Female seat Southwark LG branch

Tara Thomas

Disabled members General seat Swindon branch

Ellie Waple

Disabled members Female seat Surrey County branch

Kameron Spence

Young members General seat Stockton LG branch

Natasha Bednall

Young members Female seat Leicester City branch

Andrea Egan

Local Government Female seat Bolton branch

Jane Doolan

Local Government Female seat Islington branch

David Jones

Local Government General seat Wirral branch

Jenny Black

Local Government General seat North Tyneside branch

Anjona Roy

Community General seat North Northamptonshire branch

Michelle Lincoln

Community Female seat Portsmouth City branch

Kath Owen

Higher Education Female seat Leeds University branch

Jo Tapper

Higher Education General seat University College London branch

Jordan Rivera

Health Female seat Homerton Hospital branch

Claire Miller

Health Female seat Greater Manchester Mental Health

Kevin Corran

Health General seat Greater Manchester Mental Health

Adrian O'Malley

Health General seat Mid Yorkshire Health branch