Unite's union general secretary results

Derek has posted the results for the General Secretary election for Unite and amazing reading they make too.

Between them the two leading left candidates achieved more than 63% of the vote and Gail Cartmail (who I saw speak at a Keep the NHS Public meeting last week where she called for an insurrection!) managed a good 16.4% despite receiving an almost blanket refusal on the part of the press to acknowledge she was even running.

The winner, Len McCluskey, is a Labour Party member backed by the United Left, while runner-up Hicks ran on a take back the union ticket and is well to the left of Labour. It's a new position when union members are deciding which brand of left they want to represent them, particularly when that union is a 'super union' with one and a half million members.

Results:

McCluskey	42.4%
Hicks	21.8%
Baylis	19.3%
Cartmail	16.4%

You can read the candidate statements here.

Of the four only one candidate was from the right of Unite, Baylis, who entered the election as a favourite to win, is a 'respectable' in favour of a 'service union' and generally opposes strike action. The fact that he polled so poorly indicates that there may be real shifts taking place inside of the union.