The week commencing 30th March 2026 will see ballot papers despatched to eligible* SWU members, asking you to vote for one of two candidates for the important role of General Secretary.
We have two candidates in this election: Dave Callow and Calum Gallacher.
The SWU General Secretary is the Chief Executive Officer, decision maker on the Executive’s behalf, and supported by the SWU National Executive and Honorary Officer’s Group so it is a key union position. The SWU Legal Advisor has been involved in the election process and the ballot is being facilitated by Civica UK, acting as a qualified and independent Returning Officer and Scrutineer.
Candidates were asked to submit a photograph and an election statement for inclusion on the ballot papers. Election statements from Dave and Calum will be printed with the posted ballot papers so please read carefully.
The ballot return deadline is midday on April 29th.
The election results will be announced by SWU on April 30th.
The SWU Formal Hustings
As advertised to all members, SWU is recording a husting this week. This is a live recording which means that the questions will be answered in real time and the uncut video recording of this live stream will be published. Questions which have been pre-submitted by members will be presented by an independent host BASW Communications & External Relations Officer Jonny Adamson.
The two candidates were offered four recording dates and 12 time slots, with one candidate making the decision to not participate in the recording. Regardless, the hustings session will still go ahead with the recorded link shared on Thursday 26th March via direct mailing to the membership. We would like to thank the members who submitted questions across a wide variety of topics which will be reflected in the hustings – sorry we could not use them all.
Once the candidates were confirmed, they and other organisations were advised that separate events or individual promotions regarding this election could be arranged independently from SWU. However, the SWU hustings is the only formal election event using SWU resources.
Endorsed or Not Endorsed by SWU: What does this mean?
The SWU Endorsement Committee was set up as part of the election process by the SWU National Executive to oversee the election endorsement process.
The Endorsement Committee reviewed candidates’ personal statements and skills test results. Candidates who did not meet the requirements set out in the endorsement process will not be endorsed by SWU on the ballot paper, including those who did not complete a skills test.
Candidates may still stand for election, whether endorsed or not.
What is a skills test?
The SWU Nominations Committee introduced a skills informed endorsement process to support the union in assessing candidates’ knowledge and experience relevant to the key role of General Secretary. This process formed part of SWU’s endorsement considerations only and did not affect any candidate’s right to stand for election. Any candidate who chose not to take part in the skills test was informed throughout the process that they would not receive SWU endorsement on the ballot paper if it was not completed.
Both candidates were advised that SWU would be introducing a skills test. Both candidates were sent the candidate guidance sheet along with further information about the election process, including details of the skills test and the planned SWU formal hustings.
The General Secretary role differs significantly from that of a social worker and involves far broader union governance responsibilities than those of a social worker. For this reason, the Committee agreed it was essential that a skills test form part of the endorsement process. The skills test was initially devised by a former General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions; it had input from the present SWU General Secretary and additional questions were set and agreed by the SWU Endorsement Committee. Any decision not to sit the test did not affect a candidate’s right to stand for election or their eligibility.
*As per the SWU rules and Bye Laws, Bye Law – 2.3 The entitlement to vote as set out at Bye-Law 2.2 shall not apply to any Member who, at the date of distribution of voting papers, has less than three months’ continuous membership of the Union and/or is in arrears in respect of any admission fee and/or membership subscription fees payable to the Union.