The head of a teaching union has said he plans to stay in post despite a “ludicrous” and “coordinated” attempt by political enemies to undermine his position.
Matt Wrack, whose appointment as general secretary of the NASUWT led to a week of legal challenges and the reopening of nominations for the post, said he would stand in a new election as the nominee of the union’s executive.
He also claimed “there is some coordination” in a number of media “hatchet jobs” from senior Tory figures, including the former ministers Michael Gove and Damian Green.
In his first interview since the row was dragged into the courts last week, Wrack also:
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Dismissed claims he does not have enough experience to lead a teaching union, saying “neither do many secretaries of state or senior civil servants”.
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Reassured members that he would not merge the union with the National Education Union and denied claims that he was friends with the NEU’s general secretary.
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Said he had never downplayed antisemitism, as claimed by reports, saying: “I’m not a Zionist but I believe in a two-state solution.”
Amid speculation that he could stand aside, Wrack told the Guardian he would remain the official candidate of the union’s ruling body. “I’ve simply been informed by the national executive that I remain the nominee of the national executive,” he said.
Wrack believes that senior Conservatives have jumped into the row in an attempt to damage trade unionism. Gove, a former education secretary, told a Spectator podcast: “[Wrack] is not a teacher, he is a former firefighter and a former member of the Militant tendency.” Damian Green, the former Home Office minister, told the Telegraph that Wrack was a “frightening 1970s socialist”.
Wrack said: “I’ve never met Michael Gove in my life, but he seems to not like me. Damian Green, he seems to not like me. There seems to be quite a determined effort to portray me in a certain way, which I think is because I am an effective trade unionist.
“In 2022 the fire service was one of the few bits of the public sector that did not take action and achieved a pay settlement without a strike, through collective bargaining. So the idea that I simply want strikes is ludicrous and, frankly, a bit daft.”
Wrack suspects there has been “some coordination” in the media criticism. “It’s about trying to do a hatchet job on me because they don’t want effective trade unionism,” he said.
In April, Wrack was appointed as general secretary to Britain’s second largest teaching union – a surprise because for the last 20 years he was best known as the leftwing leader of the Fire Brigades Union, whose politics contrasted with the more moderate positions of the NASUWT.
Critics pounced on the fact he had never been a teacher and his appointment meant he did not have to contest an election.
This week his position was thrown into doubt by a legal challenge, amid claims that his appointment was a “fix” by the national executive that unfairly excluded potential candidates.
Facing an injunction, the union was forced to backpedal and said it would reopen nominations and hold elections if other candidates were nominated. The high court ruled that the union had to pay costs of £78,000 for the legal challenge, with its own legal costs pushing the bill well over £100,000.
Wrack said he could not comment on either the legal challenge or the upcoming re-election contest for fear of breaching the union’s rules. “I will not be discussing [the legal case against the NASUWT], that’s not appropriate, and nor will I be discussing the NASUWT election,” he said.
Some NASUWT members say they fear that Wrack is too close to Daniel Kebede, the NEU general secretary, and wants to see a merger between the two unions.
Wrack dismissed the reports, saying he would not argue for a merger. “The NASUWT conference took a very clear position on [a merger]. That’s the decision-making body of the union, and whoever is the general secretary has to respect that decision. So I’m a bit bemused as to where this story has come from,” he said.
“I have spoken at, probably, I don’t know, one or two meetings with Daniel over the years. I’ve been around the trade union movement for a very long time and on the TUC general council for 20 years. I know most people in senior positions in the trade union movement.”
Wrack has been accused of being too close to Jeremy Corbyn and of downplaying antisemitism in Labour. Wrack said the claims were wrong, saying he was criticised at the FBU for working with cross-community groups in the UK and Israel.
“I wouldn’t describe myself as a Zionist but I support a two-state solution in the Middle East … the FBU supported a position that is exactly the same as the TUC, which is to support a boycott of products from the occupied territories, but not a broader anti-Israeli boycott,” he said.
Wrack, who went to a Catholic grammar school in Manchester and studied with the Open University before doing a part-time master’s degree at the London School of Economics, said his lack of teaching experience was irrelevant.
“It strikes me that people seem to be able to be the secretary of state for education without any teaching experience,” he said.
Asked if he had done the right thing by standing to be general secretary of the teaching union so soon after losing an attempt at re-election as FBU general secretary, Wrack said: “I’ve made my decisions. I stand by them. The process will be what the process will be. And none of the criticisms are going to affect my personal outlook on life or on politics.”
