Absolute state of the union
Britain’s biggest union broke the law by allowing a male candidate to stand for a female-only seat on its National Executive Council
The Supreme Court’s historic 2025 ruling continues to send shockwaves through the public sector. On Monday, the UK’s biggest union was forced into a humiliating climb-down after allowing a man to stand for a senior, female-only role.
Unison, which represents 1.3 million public sector workers, was found to be in breach of the Equality Act for allowing Ellie Waple to run for the women’s disabled members’ seat on the union’s National Executive Council (NEC).
Although the autistic train enthusiast did not ultimately secure enough votes, the retrospective nature of the Supreme Court decision invalidated Unison’s policy that candidates must be eligible at all stages of the nomination and election process.
Following a complaint to the regulator, Unison was found to be in breach not only of the Equality Act but also of the trade union act, which requires unions to enforce their own rules.
This latest victory for women’s rights has ramifications for the whole union movement, after lawyers for the complainant wrote to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) asking it to advise its members to review their guidance on sex-based issues. The regulator, known as the Certification Officer, has meanwhile urged trades union to ensure that they review their rules, procedures and guidance “should they have not already done so.”
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s judgment, Unison had sought to placate both sides, vowing to “support and represent the legal rights of women and trans people so they are not subjected to discrimination or harassment either in the workplace or in wider society.”
Waple himself was less circumspect, telling the Daily Telegraph: “The undemocratic and unaccountable Supreme Court ruling plays to the false narrative and agenda that trans people are a threat to women and will only serve to create a climate of fear among trans people.”
Like Waple’s dream of taking a woman’s place on the NEC, Unison’s policy of appeasement lies in tatters, having collided with the reality of the Equality Act 2010.