The Unite leader Len McCluskey has “lost the plot” over claims that a group of rightwing Labour MPs are seeking to oust him, his main challenger for the top position in Britain’s biggest trade union has said.
Gerard Coyne spoke as Unite members vote to decide whether he or McCluskey should be Unite’s general secretary – a choice with significance for the future direction of Labour. Coyne said there had been too much focus on external politics.
“Unite, in my view, should be about focusing on its members, on their pay and their pensions, on their working conditions, and protecting them in a very insecure job market,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday.
“That’s what a trade union election should be about, not the extreme politics of the left.”
McCluskey, the 66-year-old incumbent remains the favourite to win the bitterly contested poll to lead the union, which is Labour’s most generous donor and has significant influence on the party.
While McCluskey is a key supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, Coyne, 49, a senior Unite official from the West Midlands, does not back him.
McCluskey last week demanded a Labour investigation into what he said was a plot by a “cabal” of MPs on the right of the party to undermine him and Corbyn.
Asked about this, Coyne said: “Len is seeing plots all over the place, and actually it’s only him that’s lost the plot in this election.
“He’s rattled, he can see it slipping away from him, and he’s lashing out with allegations about involvement in this campaign. That’s absolutely not the case.”
Asked if he would seek to withdraw Unite’s support for Corbyn if he won, Coyne argued it was not his priority.
“Jeremy Corbyn is the leader of the Labour party, and unlike Len McCluskey I’ve not put a shelf life on his leadership,” Coyne said.
“Len has said that he’s got 15 months to prove himself. I don’t think it is for the general secretary of the biggest trade union in the country to be telling the leader of the Labour party his future.”
During the campaign, Coyne said, he had spoken to many Unite members who “think we’ve spent too much time focusing on Jeremy Corbyn’s job and not enough time focusing on protecting their jobs”.
Asked whether he would prefer another Labour leader, Coyne said: “I would prefer the Labour party to be able to form the next government. That’s what I want to see, that’s what our members would want to see.”
McCuskey gathered significantly more support during the nominations process, gaining the backing of 1,185 branches, five times more than Coyne.
Coyne’s team hope to gain votes if they can bring about a higher-than-usual turnout of Unite’s 1.4 million members to vote. The low turnout in internal elections – 15.2% voted in the 2013 general secretary contest – is seen as giving disproportionate influence to its radical activists, more likely to back McCluskey.
