‘I don’t want to be an icon’: Mick Lynch on winning the rail strike PR battle

Public support has soared for the plain-speaking RMT leader who is leading the fight to protect his members' living standards

At 7 o'clock on Saturday morning, union boss Mick Lynch was once again on the picket line at Euston station in London, galvanising colleagues, talking tactics on the pay negotiations and conducting broadcast interviews.

Until the biggest industrial action on the rail network for more than 30 years, few people would have even heard of Lynch, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). This weekend, he is a national figure.