The National Union of Journalists is looking for a new deputy general secretary after John Fray announced his retirement.

John is set to finish his duties at the end of May – around eight months before his second five-year tenure would have come to its natural end.

Rumours are already circulating about who will stand in the subsequent elections but a formal timetable for seeking John’s replacement will not be set out until next month.

John Toner, the NUJ’s current freelance organiser and former chief sub-editor at the Paisley Daily Express, has confirmed he will stand.

NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: “In April our National Executive Council will be considering a timetable for any election and after that’s agreed we will open it up for candidates.

“Last time there were about five or six candidates for deputy general secretary but you can never quite tell until people put their nominations papers in.

“The deputy general secretary involves filling in for the general secretary on external events and campaigns and also has, traditionally, tended to have the role overseeing staff issues.

“It’s a full-time paid role based at our HQ in London. The criteria is that candidates must have a minimum of three years union membership as it’s the second most senior role in the organisation.

“John has served the NUJ for many years and will be a hard act to follow.

“Thousands of members John has helped over the years owe him a debt of gratitude and he deserves the thanks of union members across all sectors.”

Jeremy added that all NUJ members would be invited to vote in due course using the single transferable system whereby voters list an order of preference rather than just picking one candidate.