Tributes to Sally Hunt came thick and fast after the University and College Union¡¯s general secretary resigned, having served 12 years in the role.

Labour MPs, trade union bosses and?some of the UCU¡¯s 120,000 members took to Twitter to praise Ms Hunt¡¯s leadership, particularly how she steered the union through the biggest strike action in UK academic history.

But many UCU members had become dissatisfied with Ms Hunt¡¯s leadership, claiming that she was holding too much power in what should be a member-led union; last year¡¯s congress descended into chaos after Ms Hunt led repeated walkouts to prevent the discussion of a motion calling for her ¡°resignation¡­with immediate effect¡±.

That dispute, and Ms Hunt¡¯s departure for health reasons, should be a moment to reassess the position of the general secretary, some believe. To that end, a democracy commission, established at June¡¯s conference, is set to recommend that the UCU¡¯s top official be subject to an early election if two-thirds of congress agree.

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¡°It is something we will ensure can be used only in exceptional circumstances and it would be unhealthy if we used it a lot, but there is a feeling that the general secretary is beyond the democratic control of members,¡± said Sam Morecroft, a UCU branch officer at the University of Sheffield, who proposed the commission and is now serving on it.

¡°I think it would make the general secretary more receptive to the views of our membership,¡± he added.

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Shortening the term of office from five to three years ¨C an alternative proposal ¨C might also encourage more rank-and-file union members to consider running, rather than having the role filled by professional trade union officials, said Mr Morecroft. ¡°I¡¯m a big believer in lay representation ¨C we need to create the idea that this is not a permanent job and if members decide they do not want you, you go back to what you were doing,¡± he added.

One such career trade union official, Matt Waddup, the UCU¡¯s head of campaigns and policy, is the front-runner to succeed Ms?Hunt.

But it is likely that the UCU Left group will field a candidate, having recently seen Nita Sanghera and Liz Lawrence elected as vice-presidents. A third candidate ¨C possibly from the USSbriefs pension activist collective, which fielded candidates for national executive committee seats ¨C could also emerge.

On 1 March, however, the union¡¯s national executive committee agreed that Ms Hunt¡¯s successor should be elected before this year¡¯s congress in Harrogate at the end of May, which would not give time for the commission¡¯s findings to be adopted and applied to the new general secretary.

Delaying the election would, however, have meant the UCU went leaderless into a period in which crucial decisions on pay, pensions and Brexit will be made, said Emma-Jane Phillips, a UCU national officer from Northumbria University, who observed that the union has been without a general secretary since Ms Hunt first took leave in October on health grounds.

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¡°For the stability of the union, we need to have a general secretary in place as soon as possible, which is before congress,¡± said Ms Phillips, who added that ¡°waiting for congress.

Terry Murphy, UCU branch chair at Teesside University, also questioned the make-up of the democracy commission, saying that its members were ¡°picked by the small minority of people who attended the most disruptive congress since the UCU was started¡±.

¡°It makes sense for the UCU after 12 years to review its democracy, but this commission seems obsessed with how to get rid of general secretaries above all else,¡± he said.

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A broader look at the UCU¡¯s democracy should include the greater use of online surveys of members, which would empower rank-and-file members, rather than concentrate power in the hands of those who attend congress, said Dr Murphy.

The UCU¡¯s recent failure to hit the 50?per cent turnout threshold required for strike action, in a ballot on pay, suggested that the militancy of many activists was out of step with most members, Dr Murphy added.

¡°We have to make them feel included in the union, but the revolutionary language used by many activists just alienates people,¡± he said.

Three-year terms of office would also be a bad move, Dr Murphy argued. ¡°We need to look at the evidence, which suggests that paid officials would be pushed to spend half their term canvassing for re-election like American sheriffs, and thus to focus inevitably on the bigger, richer branches with more delegates,¡± he insisted.

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¡°That would really disadvantage smaller branches, particularly further education ones, where members are under the most pressure.¡±

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com