It was in late June 2022, as the first national rail strikes began, that the RMT union leader, Mick Lynch, emerged as a standout political figure. He had conducted a series of spectacular television interviews, first with Piers Morgan, then Richard Madeley – both are renowned for taking on leftwing interviewees, and both were given short shrift by Lynch as he ridiculed their inane questioning and picked apart their anti-trade union stance.
Consequently, many labelled him a hero – even heralding him as an alternative opposition leader. He was forthright and frank in the way he spoke, and the message he conveyed was robust and radical. Just like Jeremy Corbyn between 2015 and 2019, Lynch became a totem of the promise of social democratic renewal.
