UNISON general secretary

Dave Prentis is to be the new general secretary of public services union UNISON. He will take over when current general secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe steps down at the end of this year. Prentis received 125,584 votes while the other candidates, Roger Bannister and Malkiat Bilku, got 71,021 and 27,785 respectively. The turnout was 17%.

Prentis has been deputy general secretary of UNISON since its creation, with overall responsibility for negotiation and representation, the union's general political fund committee and its industrial action committee. He was deputy general secretary of founder union NALGO, where he had worked since 1972.