#SRtRCSpotlight: Challenging the Rise of the Populist Right – Fringe meeting at UNISON National Conference 2026

Back in June, Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) attended UNISON’s Annual National Delegate Conference, which took place this year at the Brighton Centre.

The North East Education Team at SRtRC have been heavily involved in the development and delivery of a new training programme designed to build skills and confidence among employees at UNISON to have challenging conversations with workers vulnerable to influence by the current rise in anti-immigration rhetoric driven by a resurgence from the populist right in the UK and across Europe.

The programme – Challenging the Rise of the Populist Right – provides an overview of the historical development of racism, and considers factors including the existence of unconscious bias, the role of privilege and the perpetration of microaggressive behaviour in the potential adoption of racist ideas and attitudes. It supports the development of toolkits to recognise and respond effectively to examples of racism within the workplace and explores the contemporary manifestations of racism including anti-immigration sentiment and Islamophobia, highlighting the role of social media in spreading misinformation and building harmful narratives among communities.

The training concludes with opportunities to develop responses to potentially discriminatory ideas and behaviours; providing a framework to respond effectively to some of the myths perpetrated by the populist right, with participants developing local, bench-level action plans to provide alternative perspectives to colleagues, businesses and the wider community.

The conference represented a great opportunity to speak to delegates about the impact of this work and to align it with the core objectives of UNISON. The fringe meeting, which was attended by over 100 UNISON delegates, was chaired by Liz Snape, Assistant General Secretary of UNISON and featured a range of speakers who passionately discussed the negative impact of the rise in anti-immigration sentiment on workers across the UK.

General Secretary Andrea Eagan spoke about the role of UNISON in supporting migrant workers and the role of the union in continuing to challenge devise narratives, both locally and nationally, and Strategic Lead Clare Williams discussed the rationale for the training programme and its context within UNISON’s wider strategy to challenge the populist right.

Nazek Ramadan, Founder and Executive Director of Migrant Voice spoke movingly about the impact of anti-immigration sentiment and on-street violence and intimidation being experienced by their members across the UK, providing real insight into the harms caused by the hostile environment.

“I have the right to be here and the right to feel safe in a place which is my home”

Migrant Voice Member, Scotland

Adejare Oyewole, Chair of UNISON Black Members Committee discussed the work of the committee in supporting black members, many of whom have also been the targets of hostility under the current climate, and the meeting closed with the thoughts of SRtRC patron and former professional footballer Neville Southall.

Neville is a former professional footballer with over 700 appearances at club level and almost 100 caps for the Welsh National team. An Everton legend, he made 578 appearances for the Toffees, winning multiple trophies and receiving numerous awards during his career, including two Balon D’Or nominations in 1985 and 1987. 

Since retiring from the game, Neville has taken up several managerial and coaching roles as well as working extensively with children from disadvantaged backgrounds through his educational consultancy. Neville is a long-time patron and supporter of Show Racism the Red Card and a well-known political activist who consistently challenges inequality through his educational and charitable work, as well as an International Officer for his UNISON branch.

The ‘Challenging the Rise of the Populist Right’ training programme has now been delivered to over 150 UNISON staff across key target areas and has led to the development of over 25 local, branch-level action plans to ensure that work to provide alternative perspectives and holding challenging conversations continues.

Feedback and impact

Following participation in the programme:

• 72% of participants stated that they had a better understanding of racism and prejudice in the workplace
• 76% of participants said that they were more able to recognise and respond to racist incidents in the workplace
• 90% of participants felt that they were more able to identify and respond to contemporary manifestations of racism e.g. anti-immigration/asylum seeker sentiment, anti-Muslim sentiment
• 86% of participants now more confident to have challenging conversations with people displaying racist or prejudicial attitudes
• 72% of participants are committed to their branch developing an action plan to challenge populist right views in the workplace

Huge thanks go to our partners at UNISON for their near thirty-year support for Show Racism the Red Card and for inviting us to be part of this year’s National Delegate Conference. Special thanks to our partners at Northern Region UNISON for providing refreshments for the meeting. 

To find out more about how your Trade Union or organisation can get involved with Show Racism the Red Card in the North East or across the UK, please complete our enquiry form, with details of the issues that you are looking to tackle.