Against a backdrop of apathy and to no great fanfare, important events are unfolding within the Labour movement. The candidates to succeed Len McCluskey as general secretary of Unite, Labour’s largest affiliate union and biggest paymaster, are seeking the branch nominations needed to gain entry to the ballot of members. Already, we are deep into the arcane language of a movement in love with its own procedures. The rules are Byzantine and the initial electorate is limited to committed activists, so winning the right to stand is much of the battle.
It has got harder, too. The threshold for getting on to the ballot was raised, for this contest, from 50 to 174 and the definition of what constitutes a “branch” was loosened. This allows activists to take even greater control and three of the candidates – Steve Turner, Howard Beckett and Sharon Graham – are, lo and behold, salaried employees of the union. Only Gerard Coyne, who had the temerity to challenge McCluskey in 2017, is not. He was, but his punishment for standing four years ago was suspension. Coyne hopes to do even better than he did last time, when he came close to winning – 41 per cent to McCluskey’s 45 per cent. And, with the three other candidates all appealing to the left in an increasingly acrimonious contest, he could yet come through the middle. If he is allowed to stand.