Unison has until now been one of the most loyal unions to Labour under Sir Keir Starmer – but as of Wednesday, that is no longer the case.
The union with a reputation for being moderate has just elected left-winger Andrea Egan as its new general secretary, replacing Christina McAnea who served in the top role since 2021.
The development is a significant blow to the prime minister and Number 10, who strongly backed Ms McAnea’s campaign for re-election.
The fact she lost, and turnout was so low, is seen as a damning indictment of the Downing Street operation and is seen as a boost to any potential Andy Burnham leadership bid.
It has parallels with how Lucy Powell’s election as deputy leader in October was seen as a repudiation of Sir Keir‘s ailing leadership.
With Ms McAnea now gone, the safe haven she provided for Sir Keir against the continued criticism of Unite, another key party donor, has vanished. Instead, he faces hostility on two fronts from the two biggest unions in the country.
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As one Labour insider put it: “Keir’s grip on the party and its organs is slipping.”
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What’s more, Sir Keir could find that Ms Egan could enter her new role with an axe to grind.
In 2022, when Labour was in opposition and was accused of blocking left-wing candidates from standing for parliament, Ms Egan found herself expelled for her links to Socialist Appeal, a small Trotskyist group which the party said did not share its “aims or values”.
‘You reap what you sow’
For critics of Sir Keir and Number 10, Ms Egan’s election is a sign that their style of party management has come back to bite them.
Not only is Ms Egan likely to follow Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, in publicly criticising Labour – there is also talk in union circles that she may push to disaffiliate from the party altogether, further fracturing its fragile coalition.
One supporter said Ms Egan was a “long-term Labour person who should have never been expelled” and added: “You reap what you sow.”
Reacting to Ms Egan’s election, another source told Sky News: “Unison is the biggest union in the country, Labour’s biggest affiliate, and has generally been in the ‘critical friend’ camp over the years. It’s now led by someone who was thrown out of the party three years ago. This could go anywhere.”
They added: “Angela can’t control everything – there’s an elected national executive and conference – but it’s huge for Labour, taken together with how Unite behave.”
Another Labour insider said Ms Egan’s election showed there had been a “mood shift in Labour’s support base” and that Sir Keir “seems completely blind to the real threat to his leadership”.
“It’s not Reform, it’s his own voters who are absconding en masse to more left-wing alternatives.”
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Boost for Burnham?
Even before her election, Ms Egan made it clear she thinks there is a better left-wing alternative to Sir Keir – none other than the ambitious Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
Her victory has fuelled chatter that Mr Burnham’s shaky path back into parliament could be made a little smoother by gifting him more allies on Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), the party’s ruling body which holds his fate in its hands.
If Mr Burnham were to run for parliament in a potential by-election, he would need to be accepted on to the shortlist of candidates controlled by the NEC.
Unison currently has two representatives on the committee who could now end up reflecting Ms Egan’s views, thereby strengthening the voice of the left on the body that has long been dominated by Starmer loyalists – although the fundamental makeup will not change.
For the soft left, Ms Egan’s election may not shift the dial totally away from Sir Keir but it is symbolic.
It confirms what they have long suspected – that the mood music is changing, and it’s not to a tune the prime minister will like.
