A veteran of the Scottish trade union movement has been elected general secretary of GMB after winning just over half the vote in a ballot of members.
Gary Smith, the union’s Scottish secretary, succeeds Tim Roache, who resigned last year after a series of allegations were made against him, which he has denied.
The Edinburgh-born former gas engineer, who now lives in Pasiley, beat the two other candidates, Rehana Azam and Giovanna Holt.
Smith took charge of the GMB's Scottish branch in 2015 and has been a persistent critic of the SNP Government's failure to secure more jobs from the offshore windfarm boom in recent years.
He said: “It is the honour of my life to be elected GMB general secretary.
“A huge thank you to all GMB members. Thank you for listening to the different visions offered by the candidates, and thank you for your continuing membership of our great union.
“You are the reason this union exists and by working together, we can repay your trust by building a better, bigger and stronger union.
“GMB is a great union. I joined as a 16-year-old gas apprentice and owe this union so much. It has educated me, supported me, and become a wonderful second family.
“Throughout my entire adult working life, I’ve tried to repay this huge debt by fighting hard, every day, to improve the working lives of our members. As general secretary, I promise to lead with the same strength and energy.”
Smith won just under 31,000 votes compared with just under 17,000 for Ms Azam and 15,525 for Ms Holt.
The turnout was 10.6%.
Smith added: “We must shed the practices and cultures that have blighted us in recent times and rediscover all that is good about this union.
“We have fantastic people working here, talented and committed activists, and incredible members who pay their hard-earned money to be part of an organisation that fights for justice in the workplace.”
Smith has repeatedly spoken out over the pandemic to highlight poor wages and conditions being endured by care home staff and other frontline workers.
Smith grew up in Edinburgh’s West Pilton and joined the GMB on his first day as an apprentice at Scottish Gas aged 16.
Ten years later he won a scholarship from the union to attend Ruskin College Oxford before going on to complete an MA in industrial relations at Warwick University.
He then went back to the gas industry while continuing to work as a union activist before taking a permanent job with the GMB. He was named GMB Scotland secretary in 2015.
