Lambeth Unison the question around succession

The question of succession - in others words who will be replacing the Branch Secretary in the near future - is something that can only be decided by the AGM. The democratic process will be followed and the Branch will ultimately make the final decision. Some people have naturally asked me and Jon as to when we are both planning to vacate the 'position' and the answer to that has been soon we both hope. The plan has been to identify and encourage the person or people we think can do the job and try to get them involved with training. It will be wrong for me to state on here as to whether I think someone is ready right now but there has been some encouraging signs and I feel one young activists in the Branch can, with some more training over say a 2 year period, be ready to take on the task. He will need a lot of support from those around him and would have to be able to command the respect of the wider membership and the Convenors. The Convenors team are a key to this as they are the chief activists on the ground that hold the fort on a daily basis. The Secretary is the person who will need to unify and inspire the confidence and respect of the 2,300 members of the Branch which includes some 380 members outside Lambeth Council a key factor that has been ignored when looking at the equation in the past. No one should think for a minute that either myself or Jon want to hold on to the position of BS for ever but we have declared our intention to hold on until we are near the point of knowing that whoever replaces us is able to do the job and can deal with the pressure. Some will see that as pure arrogance I see it as taking on the responsibility of the office seriously.