The trade union leader Nigel de Gruchy, who has died aged 82, always insisted on putting the interests of the teachers he was elected to represent ahead of those of the pupils in the classrooms where they taught. While this approach was both logical and defensible for a trade unionist, it was also one that inevitably provoked controversy.
Such an outcome did not normally deter De Gruchy, who relished the prospect of a public ding-dong, recognising that the resultant publicity might quite possibly enhance his chances of success in whatever cause he was then pursuing. It did not make him popular in Westminster or Whitehall, but he won some important political and legal battles that would significantly improve the lives of school teachers.
