Unite election

Len McCluskey has been re-elected general secretary of the Unite general union, it was confirmed last month.

Unite members voted by 64% to retain McCluskey, who received 144,570 votes in the general secretary ballot, called early to avoid a clash with the 2015 general election. Jerry Hicks, the only other contender, received 36% of the ballot and 79,819 votes.

When McCluskey was first elected at the end of 2010, there were four candidates. McCluskey’s 2013 vote was 43% higher than in 2010, while Hicks’s vote rose by 53%. Turnout was 15%, only slightly lower than the 16% of 2010.