New NUJ president (From Gazette Series)

New NUJ president

FORMER Gazette reporter Tim Lezard has been elected president of the National Union of Journalists.

At 35, Tim is the second youngest president in the union's 98-year history. He was elected at the union's annual conference in Scarborough at the weekend.

He said: "Since I joined the NUJ on my first day at work there have been many times when I've been proud to be a member, but none so proud as Sunday.

"I feel very honoured to have been elected as president - effectively the union's ambassador - by my peers. I'm very much looking forward to the year ahead."

During his 12 months in office, Tim, who lives near Berkeley, has vowed to tackle low pay in the newspaper industry and to fight for jobs in the BBC.

He said: "People have described the BBC's director general Mark Thompson as a 'rottweiler' because of his plans to axe more than 3,000 jobs.

"I disagree. I think he's Tony Blair's poodle. Why else would he roll over whenever the Prime Minister asks him to save money? How can the BBC maintain standards while getting rid of 20% of its workforce?"

The NUJ represents more than 35,000 journalists in the UK and Ireland.