Endorsement: Sophie Jones, Birkbeck, University of London

I wholeheartedly endorse Jo Grady for General Secretary of UCU. Her manifesto not only presents bold, informed proposals on the main crises facing our sector—casualisation, marketisation, the hostile environment, overwork, institutional racism and sexism—but shows a refreshing understanding of how these issues are interlinked. The UCU leadership has often seemed to operate at a distance from the everyday impact of these problems, paying lip service to ‘casualisation’ and ‘equality’ without offering a meaningful, imaginative programme of action that engages with multiple arenas of struggle. Jo Grady’s commitment to working with rather than for members to develop such a programme is exciting to me: her vision for a transparent, democratised, proactive union is exactly what we need right now.