How to nominate candidates for the NEC elections

A guide to the process of nominating members to the national executive council

UNISON sign at the union's centre in London

Through its structures, UNISON is led by its lay members, with the national executive council (NEC) as its senior decision-making body.

That body is elected every two years and nominations are now open for this year’s election. Here’s how nominations can be made.

Nominations can be made by branches, regional self-organised groups, and regional and the national young members’ forums that are in the relevant region or constituency and service group. Nominating bodies may only nominate up to as many candidates as there are seats available in the constituency that’s relevant to them.

Prospective candidates may seek nominations from any branch in their region if standing for a regional seat or service group seat, and from any regional self-organised group or national young members’ forum if the candidate identifies with that self-organised group.

The nominating body has to hold a nominating meeting and vote on who to nominate. Then they have to fill in the online nomination submission, including the date and type of meeting, the number of people who attended, and the quorum – the minimum number of people needed to make that meeting valid. These meetings can be in person, online or hybrid.

Confirming nominations

In a nominating body, only the members of the service group, region or regional self-organised group for which nominations are sought can take part in the process – including when voting. Those nominations should then be confirmed at a quorate nominating meeting, where, for instance, only members who belong to the health service group can nominate a candidate for the health seat or only members in local government can nominate to that seat etc.

Nominations may be invalidated if evidence shows a breach of this rule. Nominations then have to be submitted via the CES online portal and must be authorised by either the secretary or chair of the relevant nominating body in the online declaration. The names and UNISON membership numbers of the secretary or chair must match those recorded on the RMS membership system.

If the nomination submission has been authorised by another elected officer of the nominating body, an explanation of the reasons why should be given. Details of another elected officer of the nominating body – for example, a vice chair or assistant secretary – should be included, with an explanation of why this was necessary. Where only one of these posts is filled, the authorisation of another elected officer of the nominating body is needed – there must be two verifications. Nomination submissions must be filled in online via the CES online portal by 5pm on 14 February and nominating bodies will receive an acknowledgement of receipt by email.

UNISONdirect is running a nomination helpline until 14 February, which can be accessed by phone on 0800 0 857 857 or by text phone on 0800 0 967 968.

Nominations that are incomplete or incorrect will be referred back to the nominating body by the member liaison unit as soon as possible with a copy to the candidate and regional secretary.

At the end of the nomination period, the returning officer will decide if nominations are valid and whether candidates are eligible to stand in the election. If the nominated candidate is not eligible to stand, the candidate will be told why. Nominating bodies will receive an email to tell them if their nomination is invalid and state the reason(s) for that decision.

You can read a full guide to the elections here [pdf].