The UK’s largest trade union has fallen foul of the law by allowing a man to stand for a female position.
In February 2025, a man known as Ellie Waple ran for the female disabled member’s seat on Unison’s National Executive Committee. Although he lost the election, the trade union regulator ruled that permitting Waple to campaign contravened the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex and the union’s own rules.
Lawyers for Unison member Stephen Flaherty, who launched the legal challenge, are now asking the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to instruct all members to review their sex-based guidance.
Wholesale review
Solicitor Paul Conrathe told TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak that as the “umbrella body for the trade union movement”, the congress can “ensure affiliated unions understand that sex-based rules, reserved seats, representative structures and guidance must now be reviewed against the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“This should not be left to individual disputes. A movement-wide review would promote legal certainty, good governance and confidence that unions are applying the law as it now clearly stands.”
A TUC spokesman responded: “We will give careful consideration to the ruling of the certification officer and its implication for our affiliate unions, and we will continue to engage with our unions on this matter.”
‘Trans-mania’
Posting on X, writer and trade unionist Paul Embery called the Unison ruling another “positive legal outcome”.
“The government’s trade union regulator has ruled that Unison, Britain’s largest union, broke the law by allowing a trans-identifying male to run for a woman’s seat on its national executive committee.
“This ruling ought to provide a wake-up call for a trade union movement that for years was under the spell of trans-mania. Women’s sex-based rights matter. And so does the law.”
Another positive legal outcome. The government's trade union regulator has ruled that Unison, Britain's largest union, broke the law by allowing a trans-identifying male to run for a woman's seat on its national executive committee. This ruling ought to provide a wake-up call for…
— Paul Embery (@PaulEmbery) August 11, 2026
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