Mick Lynch emerged almost from nowhere in the early summer of 2022 to become a ‘working-class hero’, turning sectional demands into generalised demands and articulating the anger of millions against the Tories and the growing levels of economic and social inequality in Britain.

However, that ‘soft’ power has not easily translated into ‘hard’ power and neither has the ‘power to’ (disrupt) turned into ‘power over’ (the bargaining opponent). This talk based on Gregor Gall’s newly published book – Mick Lynch: The making of a working-class hero – examines his role in accounting for these outcomes as the leader of the RMT union. It draws out conclusions about understanding the nature of power in the current political period, strategic planning (and the lack thereof) and participative leadership.

Gregor Gall is visiting professor of industrial relations at the University of Leeds and an affiliate research associate at the University of Glasgow. He was previously professor of industrial relations at the universities of Stirling, Hertfordshire and Bradford. He is author and editor of over twenty books and 130 peer reviewed journal articles on unions and industrial relations.