Political Fund - making a bigger difference for members

What is the Political Fund?

The NASUWT Political Fund plays an important role in supporting the Union’s work on behalf of teachers.

Trade union law requires unions to maintain a Political Fund if they wish to campaign, within the law, on issues that affect members’ pay, working conditions and professional lives.

The Fund enables NASUWT to speak up for teachers and to influence the decisions that shape education policy.

NASUWT is an independent trade union. The Political Fund is not used to affiliate or make financial donations to any political party.

The NASUWT Political Fund enables the Union to:

  • lobby for changes to legislation and policy that affect teachers and schools;

  • ensure the voice and experience of teachers are heard by ministers, MPs, peers and politicians across all parties;

  • raise awareness of issues affecting teachers through lawful campaigning and public engagement.

Without a Political Fund, NASUWT would be restricted in how it represents members’ interests to Government, politicians and wider decision-makers.

The Fund helps ensure that the Union can use all its influence to secure the policies that members want.

How does this apply where I teach?

The operation of the Political Fund reflects differences in legislation across the UK.

In England, Scotland and Wales, changes introduced through the Employment Rights Act 2025 mean that new members will normally contribute to the Political Fund unless they choose to opt out, while existing non-contributors remain opted out unless they actively opt in.

In Northern Ireland, separate legal provisions continue to apply and members must actively opt in if they wish to contribute to the Political Fund.

Members in Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man (IOM), Jersey and elsewhere can also choose to opt into the Political Fund.

Regardless of where members work, contributing to the Political Fund is always a personal choice and members can opt in or opt out at any time without affecting their membership or access to NASUWT support and services.

Why should members in Northern Ireland and elsewhere ‘opt in’ to the NASUWT Political Fund?

Members in Northern Ireland and elsewhere may choose to opt into the NASUWT Political Fund because it enables the Union to campaign lawfully and effectively on the issues that shape teachers’ working lives.

The Fund supports activity such as influencing legislation, engaging with ministers and elected representatives, and ensuring that the professional voice of teachers is heard when decisions are being made about pay, workload, safety, funding and education policy.

Wherever you are, opting in helps strengthen the Union’s ability to represent members’ interests with governments and legislatures, while remaining independent of any political party.

You can give an opt-in notice in any of these ways:

Your contributions to the NASUWT Political Fund will not be used to provide financial assistance or support to any political party.

Whilst some organisations pay money to affiliate to particular political parties, NASUWT does not affiliate to any political party. Irrespective of which political party is in power, every penny we collect from our members is used to put teachers first.

Opt-out information notice

NASUWT has a Political Fund. This Fund is used for activities connected with political objects as defined by section 72 of the above Act. All spending on these activities comes from this separate political fund.

Every member has the right not to contribute to the union’s Political Fund. To exercise this right, you must give the union an opt-out notice.

You can give an opt-out notice in any of these ways:

A form of opt-out notice can also be obtained from the Certification Officer by emailing [email protected].

If you later change your mind, you can give a withdrawal notice to cancel your opt-out. This will put you back into contributing to the Political Fund.

The NASUWT Political Fund is regulated by the Certification Officer in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.