Top teaching union backs Burnham as Labour’s best chance of beating Reform

Exclusive: NASUWT leader Matt Wrack also calls for more robust change from the government on education policy

The leader of one of the country’s biggest teaching unions has said Andy Burnham is Labour’s best chance for beating Reform in a general election.

The general secretary of NASUWT, Matt Wrack, was speaking to the Guardian in the run-up to Thursday’s Makerfield byelection , in which the Greater Manchester mayor hopes to return to parliament and pave the way for a possible leadership challenge.

Wrack warned of the dangers of a Reform government to teachers and education, and said his members were already encountering hostility from Reform-led local authorities.

Reform councillors had refused to talk to them, accusing them of indoctrinating children and describing them as a disgrace and “part of the problem”. NASUWT trade union activists were “quite taken aback by the hostility”, he said.

“I think a Reform government would be devastating for teachers, devastating for education and devastating for trade unions, and very scary,” he said. “I’m not sure any of us have really come to terms with how far politics has shifted and what those risks actually mean.

“I think the sort of hesitation we have had of this Labour government, you wouldn’t see with Reform. If Reform had their chance they would move very quickly and very ruthlessly to attack trade union rights, attack equality provision and legislation.”

Wrack, who took over at NASUWT a year ago after 20 years as the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said he had previously had dealings with Burnham.