Tom Dolphin: BMA’s new chair who’s taking on government despite bid to be Labour MP

<p>As members vote to strike for a 29% pay rise, newly elected chair of UK’s main doctors union says he is no party lackey</p><p>If things had turned out differently, Tom Dolphin would now be a Labour MP, sitting on the government’s backbenches and supporting Wes Streeting, the health secretary.</p><p>Instead he is the <a href="https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/dr-tom-dolphin-elected-as-new-bma-council-chair">newly elected chair</a> of the British Medical Association, the UK’s main doctors union. Its almost 55,000 members, who are resident doctors in England, gave the government a huge headache this week by voting to strike for up to six months in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/11/resident-doctors-29-pay-claim-is-non-negotiable-bma-chair-says">pursuit of a 29% pay rise</a>, starting with a five-day walkout from 25-30 July.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/13/tom-dolphin-bmas-new-chair-whos-taking-on-government-despite-bid-to-be-labour-mp">Continue reading...</a>