The new leader of the biggest civil service union has been announced after a ballot of members.

Fran Heathcote will be the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), succeeding Mark Serwotka, who is retiring after more than 20 years in the post.

Ms Heathcote, the union’s president, will be its the first female general secretary.

Mr Serwotka retires next month having been re-elected five times since 2000.

He said: “Many congratulations to Fran. Having worked closely with her over the last four years, I’m confident the union will go from strength to strength under her leadership.”

Ms Heathcote said: “It’s a huge honour to have been elected as general secretary of this successful campaigning union.

“Thanks to Mark for all his fantastic work over the last 23 years. I was proud to be president of PCS during our successful campaign in 2023 which beat the Government’s pay policy.

“I am now determined to lead the fight as general secretary to keep driving up our members’ pay and dealing with the cost-of-living crisis.”

John Moloney was elected assistant general secretary.

The union has been involved in a bitter dispute with the Government over pay this year, with its members taking part in a series of strikes.