The Stage

Shock as Equity council advised to back Prodger

Published Wednesday 7 September 2005 at 13:40 by Nuala Calvi

Christine Payne, former frontrunner to succeed Ian McGarry as Equity general secretary, faces a tense five-day wait to discover whether the union council will uphold a surprise recommendation that it should support her leading rival.

In a major reverse for Payne, a six-strong panel including McGarry and president Harry Landis advised officers to back assistant general secretary for film and television Andy Prodger. Neither Prodger nor Payne - the assistant general secretary for theatre and variety - is an Equity member and they can only stand for election if they are the council’s chosen candidate.

Councillors will decide next Tuesday whether to accept the panel’s decision. If they do so, it will leave the road clear for a three-way battle between Prodger, the union’s Scottish secretary Lorne Boswell and walk-on artist Clive Hurst.

In all previous elections where union members have been balloted, the council’s nominee has been successful. Boswell, who has the chance to stand for election as a union member, lost when he took on McGarry, who was the council’s nominee in the last election.

Some members are now calling for the union’s election system to be changed. Variety councillor Dave Eager said: “It seems a highly undesirable situation where senior managers, all of whom are well respected, are seen to be head to head competing to stand as the council’s recommendation. I think after this there will be those on the council who will say we need to find a better way. It seems unnecessarily divisive and they should be able to both stand and let the members decide.”

Boswell admitted the council nomination would have boosted his chances but said: “I’m still on the ballot paper. I’m very hopeful that I’ve got a good support base among the membership and that my campaign is confident at the moment. I’m quite relaxed.”

One Equity member commented that Payne’s record on commercial theatre may have gone against her in the eyes of the panel.

The panel, comprised of four councillors as well as Landis and McGarry interviewed all the prospective candidates for the nomination.

Ballot papers have now gone out to all 45 council members and the ballot will close at noon on Tuesday, September 13, with the result expected the same day.

An Equity spokesman said: “We will confirm the candidates once we know who will be on the ballot papers. We can’t release any names at the moment.”