Ritchie named as Brumwell's successor at UCATT

Alan Ritchie has been confirmed as the next general secretary of UCATT following a comfortable poll victory over Michael Dooley in a run-off of the election to succeed George Brumwell.

Ritchie, the union’s Scottish regional secretary, won 66.4% of the votes. The remaining 33.6% of the votes went to Dooley, who is a London regional organiser.

A run-off ballot between the top two candidates came after a first round of voting earlier this summer. It was called when Ritchie narrowly failed to score the 50% of votes cast required under union rules in the initial ballot.

George Brumwell retires on 22 October after more than 10 years at the helm of construction’s biggest union. He will continue as chairman of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme. He said: "I am delighted to announce Alan as my successor and I am confident that he will build on the firm foundations that I have been able to create."

Ritchie said: "Following George will be no easy task, but it is a very real privilege."