Equity Rule Change Referendum 2026

You should now have received your online voting link from Civica, sent by email on 14 October.

If you do not have an email address registered with Equity, you should have received a postal ballot to your home address. If you cannot find your online voting link (or postal ballot if applicable), please contact elections@equity.org.uk  

The Council recommends that you vote YES to the proposed changes, to ensure Equity can continue to be a modern, fighting, and progressive trades union – with a rulebook fit for 2027. 

What you are voting on: New Rules of the Union 

The referendum is asking members to approve the new rules of the union. The union's rules govern how the union is run, empower the union to act and set out what to expect from Equity as a member. 

In 2022, Equity members overwhelmingly approved a new, modern rulebook for our union. It has proved robust and effective, lasting longer without amendment than any rulebook for over three decades. 

However, periodic reviews of our rules are important, and now is the right time to make some limited amendments. After the Employment Rights Act 2025 modernised some laws around trades union governance; our rulebook needs to be updated to take advantage of these new rights. Critically, if the proposed amendments pass, we will be able to introduce online votes for Council and General Secretary elections, which previous legislation prevented Equity from undertaking.  

We are also taking the opportunity to clarify some rules, ensure they are easier to understand, and address unintended gaps: like the process for a Presidential by-election. There are also some areas of union policy – such as expanding the definition of young members and how your membership works – which need to be incorporated into our rulebook. We are also updating language to ensure our policy on trans-inclusivity continues to be reflected in the composition of Equity Council through a Gender Equality seat, despite an increasingly hostile environment for trans people and those with other gender identities. 

The ballot also recommends the extension of terms of office for Council from two years to four (from 2028 onwards). This is to improve inclusion of our members who have precarious working lives and caring responsibilities, who often find themselves under pressure to juggle meeting attendance and training with other pressures during short terms of office. Most importantly, it is intended to reduce the ‘electoral fatigue’ which many members report in having at least one union-wide election a year for Council or Committees. Consequently, we hope that reducing the number of elections will improve turnout. 

The Council recommends that you vote YES to the proposed changes, to ensure Equity can continue to be a modern, fighting, and progressive trades union – with a rulebook fit for 2027. 

The Council recommends that you vote YES to the proposed changes, to ensure Equity can continue to be a modern, fighting, and progressive trades union – with a rulebook fit for 2027.