Andrea Bradley has been elected as the first female general secretary of the EIS teaching union in its 175-year history.
She will take up her post in the summer and succeed Larry Flanagan, who has been general secretary for 10 years.
The news emerged this afternoon after a specially convened EIS council meeting.
Ms Bradley is the EIS assistant secretary for education and equality, a post she has held for seven years. She became an EIS official in 2014, when she was appointed as national officer for education and equality.
EIS president Heather Hughes said she was “delighted” with the result, especially as it marked “the first woman to be chosen as the top official of Scotland’s largest teaching union”.
Ms Hughes added: “Andrea brings vast experience of Scottish education, and a strong commitment to trade unionism, to the role.
“Scotland’s teachers could not hope for a better appointment, and I look forward to working with Andrea to promote the interests of Scottish education and Scotland’s teaching professionals.”
Ms Bradley was a principal teacher of English in South Lanarkshire after having begun her career in Inverclyde in 1995. She had graduated with a degree in history and English from the University of Strathclyde, before returning to the university to complete her postgraduate studies in education.
Today, she said: “I am honoured to be chosen as the next general secretary of the EIS, and I look forward to assuming my post in the near future.
“I do not underestimate the challenges that the post of general secretary will present, but I intend to face these head on.
“In the immediate term, securing a fair pay settlement for Scotland’s teaching professionals will be the top priority for the EIS, and I will do all that I can towards achieving this objective.”
Ms Bradley has a long association with the EIS, including as a health and safety rep and later a branch rep.
Since becoming a full-time official, Ms Bradley has represented the EIS on many external bodies and she is co-vice-chair of the Scottish Trades Union Congress women’s committee.
She has also played a key role in establishing and running the PACT (Promise to Act) project, a joint education union and Scottish government initiative providing anti-poverty professional learning for teachers.
