JUDGEMENT is critical in industrial negotiation. How much to demand? When to ballot? Whether to strike? Will members stick together? When has the best offer been tabled? Calling those effectively is the first duty of every trade union.

I’ve spent 17 years as an NUJ organiser, developing skills, grappling with management at the BBC, FT, Reach, Vice and many, many others. Before that I was a BBC journalist — propelled into NUJ membership, chapel activism and then into working for the union, because I saw the difference the union makes to its members and to journalism.

That’s why I’m standing to be my union’s general secretary — because I want to use that experience and industrial track record to deliver for members when it really matters, and leading a team that does the same.