Professor Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, has announced she will step down and stand as a candidate in the forthcoming general election.
She leaves the nursing union after eight years, three of which have been spent as its general secretary and chief executive.
She will stand as an MP for the Irish republican party Sinn Féin in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in Northern Ireland.
She said: “This was the hardest decision to make, and we have achieved so much in three very different and difficult years.
“I hope my legacy here will be to have helped the nursing profession use its voice and campaign for change, for ourselves and patients. I owe RCN members a debt of gratitude.”
She also said the election was an opportunity to support better funding for public services and “reject years of cruel Tory cuts”.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency is considered to be the most marginal seat in the UK. In the 2019 election, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew retained the seat by just 57 votes, and she will not stand in July.
Professor Cullen led RCN members into the biggest strike in the union’s history in December 2022, when around 100,000 nurses walked out in a dispute over pay.
Paul Vaughan, chair of RCN Council, said: “Pat has been a tremendous leader for our profession and put the college on a journey to a brighter future.
“She has been fearless in rooting out longstanding cultural issues internally and speaking truth to power in the health service and politics alike.”
Professor Nicola Ranger, the RCN’s current chief nursing officer and deputy general secretary, will take on responsibility as acting general secretary while the union seeks applicants for a permanent chief.
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