Election time is upon us, and the temperature of the PCS Broad Left Network (BLN) continues to rise to fever pitch, resulting in a total disorientation in their political positioning.

On 18 April 2025, the BLN published an article headlined: “Stop the rot: Vote Marion Lloyd for President in PCS”.  How this would help stop any rot is difficult to explain, given that Marion’s faction is the one that holds sway on the NEC, and any rot is therefore of their making.

The focus of their ire continues to be the General Secretary, Fran Heathcote, and the President, Martin Cavanagh. These two decent, principled, committed trade unionists have been subjected to relentless attacks all year by the BLN and their allies in the Coalition for Change.  The level of bile and vitriol that they have been subjected to for doing their jobs has been wholly unnecessary and completely unjustified.

This weird obsession has led the Coalition for Change into adopting a default approach – any proposal made by the General Secretary, no matter how simple or rational, must be opposed. This approach has already led to 4 highly embarrassing U-turns by the Coalition in respect of industrial policy during this year.  Such developments would be more than enough to give any self-aware trade unionist pause for thought.  Not so those in the Coalition for Change, who seem determined to pursue this approach to the end.

The BLN article provides commentary on the last full NEC meeting of the year. They take issue with the fact that “Six hours of the meeting time were wasted on one paper”.  The paper in question is the standard paper brought by the General Secretary every year containing attitudes to conference motions and proposed NEC speakers on them. This business would normally be completed in a couple of hours. Not on this occasion, with the Coalition deliberately dragging out the agenda item, changing both attitudes to motions and speakers in the most sectarian manner.

This pattern of behaviour continued throughout the meeting, as it has all year. The General Secretary gave a factual report on discussions with the Cabinet Office following the Spring Statement; said that she would bring an emergency motion to Conference for discussion to the May NEC; and stated that it was right that the our annual delegate conference, which is in fact our Members Parliament, should determine the way forward for the national campaign.  She asked the NEC to note the paper.

The ridiculous response from the BLN was to refuse to note the paper. Instead, they attempted to high-handedly force through their own “campaign plan”, despite the recent consultation with groups and branches indicating that there is no consensus at this stage on what the demands of any campaign would be; and despite there being virtually no detail on departmental intentions following the Spring Statement.

Perhaps the most bizarre consequence of their approach of opposing anything the General Secretary says or does is encapsulated in their position on quangos (or Arms’ Length Bodies). PCS has always rightly argued that the vast majority of such bodies should be under direct, democratic state control; that workers within them should be civil servants; and that there should be coherence of pay and terms & conditions on the best available terms.

The General Secretary noted that the government’s review of such bodies presented an opportunity for the union to argue for those long held positions.  The BLN argue that: “The attack on ALBs will certainly involve centralisation of function and job cuts; concrete steps to oppose should be prepared now.”

Such a position places the BLN to the political right of the government on this issue. Given the make-up of this government, that takes some doing. However, such are the consequences of adopting an approach to oppose anything that the General Secretary supports – her position on these matters is naturally to the left, so in scrambling to manufacture difference, the BLN have inevitably ended up on reactionary right-wing territory.

This is no way to run a serious trade union. There are both threats and opportunities lying ahead that require a PCS leadership capable of navigating them and capable of achieving real gains for members. The playground politics of the Coalition for Change will never deliver that.

Vote Democracy Alliance!