Michael Lynch (born January 1962) is a British-Irish[1] trade unionist who has served as the General Secretary of the UK's National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers since May 2021.

Lynch was born in West London in January 1962,[2] the youngest of five children, growing up in a Catholic-dominated Paddington council estate.

[8][9] This stance was in line with that of his RMT union which encouraged its membership to vote for Brexit, providing several reasons including protection of workers rights.

[12] During his time as Assistant General Secretary, Lynch criticised Boris Johnson's suggestion that allowing driverless trains should be a condition for the funding of Transport for London services,[13] accused the government of using the London Underground as a "political football" before the 2021 mayoral elections, and threatened strike action if privatisation of the Underground began.

[3][17][18] As part of the media coverage of the RMT's 2022–23 strikes, Lynch gained widespread attention for his appearances in interviews and debates on the BBC, Sky News, TalkTV, and ITV.

[26][27][28] Media coverage in December 2022, particularly from Metro and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, likened him to the Grinch and accused him of wanting to "steal Christmas".

"[25][29] In December 2023 The New Statesman described Lynch as having "made industrial action cool," naming him as the UK's nineteenth most powerful left-wing figure of the year.