TEACHERS and lecturers in further and higher education voted overwhelmingly yesterday to call for a vote for Labour in the general election.

The University and College Union (UCU), which is not affiliated to any political party, pledged to back a Labour victory for the first time in its history.

The decision followed an impassioned plea at the weekend by general secretary Sally Hunt, who urged delegates to vote for “a better world” and branded the government an “unmitigated disaster.”

The conference agreed to campaign with a message of defending education, defending worker’s rights and fighting austerity, racism and war.

City and Islington College delegate Sean Vernell said: “On June 8, we have a fantastic opportunity to vote for a radical alternative we haven’t had for a generation.

“Jeremy Corbyn has shaken the foundation of British politics.”

He said it would be “our victory” if Labour won the general election, pointing the latest polls showing the Tory lead being slashed to as little as 5 per cent.

Mr Vernell condemned the mainstream press for its personal attacks on the Labour leader.

“They have criticised his facial hair, his clothes, his voice,” he told delegates. “But they are doing it not because he can’t win. But it is because they think he can win.”

Delegates heard how Mr Corbyn offered something different, challenging the long-held notion that “the free market is the only way.”

Mr Vernell said: “A victory for Labour will bring hope to millions of people across the world.”

Liverpool University delegate Jo McNeill said: “I acknowledge that UCU doesn’t affiliate to any party. But the Labour Party only exists because of the trade union movement.

“Jeremy Corbyn has stood proudly on UCU picket lines at London Metropolitan University,” she noted, reminding delegates that Labour has promised to repeal the antitrade union legislation “that is so pivotal to all of us.”

Ms McNeill added: “We need to put Jeremy Corbyn in power. For our education, our rights as workers and for our NHS, vote Labour.”