Civil servants elect new leader

The new leader of the union for senior civil servants promised yesterday to strengthen the rights of his members, including the permanent secretaries of government departments.

Jonathan Baume was officially elected general secretary of the Association of First Division Civil Servants (FDA). He takes over from the former Liz Symons, now Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean. Mr Baume, 43, polled 61 per cent of the votes in a ballot of union members, against 39 per cent won by his rival candidate, Tony Engel. He vowed to take the 10,000- strong union forward.

"The FDA has gained a formidable reputation in standing up for its members and for standards and openness in government, and I want to build on these strengths," he said.