Corbyn’s pal Red Len is re-elected as Unite leader
After rival is mysteriously suspended at last minute...
‘Campaign worthy of North Korea’
LEN McCluskey was elected leader of Britain’s largest union last night after being accused of waging a campaign worthy of North Korea.
The hard-left union baron – a strong supporter of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – was re-elected general secretary of Unite on a turnout of just 12.2 per cent.
He saw off a challenge by anti-Corbyn candidate Gerard Coyne after a fraught contest seen as a battle for the future of the Labour movement.
The result was announced a day after Mr Coyne was suspended from his job as a regional officer in the West Midlands over claims he brought the party into disrepute.
Mr Coyne claimed last night the union machine had ‘consistently attempted to bully and intimidate’ him during the campaign. Baroness Prosser, the former deputy general secretary of one of Unite’s predecessor unions and a backer of Mr Coyne, likened the leadership contest to ‘something that might go on in North Korea’.
Mr McCluskey’s victory – by 59,067 votes to 53,544 – is a major boost for Mr Corbyn. The Unite leader has been one of his firmest supporters and he has given Labour £1.5million to fund its election campaign.
The result will also bolster Mr Corbyn’s support on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee.
Mr McCluskey is expected to support changes to party rules that will ensure that a left-wing candidate will be able to stand as leader of the party in future. One pro-McCluskey source said: ‘There will be a lot of Blairites crying into their Peronis and Chablis tonight.’
The month-long campaign was one of the most bitter ever seen in the union’s history. Mr Coyne accused Mr McCluskey of being too close to the Labour leader while the Unite leader hit back and said his rival was pedalling ‘smears’.
Mr Coyne said it had been a ‘very close’ count and the result sent some ‘very serious’ messages to Unite.
Earlier in the day, Baroness Prosser criticised the running of the contest. She told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: ‘My understanding is that the election was going well for Gerard.
‘So then for the next thing to hear that he has been suspended and that the union as I understand it is not saying why, that just looks a bit like something that might go on in North Korea really.’
There is a ‘90 per cent chance’ that Mr Coyne will go to court to challenge the result, Channel 4 reported last night.
Announcing the result, Unite’s acting general secretary Gail Cartmail said: ‘ I congratulate Len McCluskey on his victory and would urge the entire union to pull together ... not least to work for a Labour victory in the general election.’
Tony Burke, Unite’s assistant general secretary, said he was pleased with the result, adding: ‘I have fought in many union elections over 40 years – this was the vilest I have ever witnessed.’