Party’s biggest donor urges union members to vote for the Islington North MP for his anti-austerity stance, in a move that will be seen as a snub for Andy Burnham

Britain’s biggest union is urging its members to vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership election, a spokesman has confirmed.

The decision by Unite, the party’s most generous donor, will be seen as a major boost for the Islington North MP and a snub for Andy Burnham.

Burnham, the shadow health secretary, has been the bookmakers’ favourite and was expected to win over most of Britain’s major unions in the race to succeed Ed Miliband.

The decision, which could be followed up by donations, follows anger among some senior union figures that Labour’s leadership candidates, with the exception of Corbyn, have been critical of anti-austerity policies.

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Corbyn, who only made it on to the ballot with minutes to spare after MPs lent him their votes to broaden the debate, has called for the party to reject austerity. Britain’s largest transport union, the RMT; the train drivers’ union, Aslef; the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) have also backed him.

Unite’s executive committee voted on Sunday to lend its support to Corbyn, with Burnham as its second preference. A spokesman for the union said: “The backing for Jeremy Corbyn was in recognition that his policies were most closely aligned with those of Unite,” a statement said.

The union will not back any of the candidates for deputy leader, but will recommend that its members support either Angela Eagle and Tom Watson. The latter has has a longstanding relationship with the union and its leader, Len McCluskey

“The decisions on who to support were taken today following debate by the union’s executive committee, an elected body of 63 men and women from workplaces across the UK,” the statement said.

The unions are expected to have less influence on this year’s contest, because the party has moved to a one member, one vote system for choosing its leader.



Senior party figures believe that Unite’s decision to recommend that members should give Burnham second preference votes could work in his favour in the long run.The Tories attacked Miliband for the support he received from Unite.

The union remains Labour’s biggest donor. In the first three months of 2015, it gave £3.5m. There has been no decision yet on whether to donate to any individual campaigns for the leadership or deputy leadership.

The possibility of Corbyn winning the leadership battle has been greeted with glee by some Conservatives, who think that a more leftwing Labour will be an electoral gift for their party.

Some have launched a Tories for Corbyn campaign for supporters of the government to sign up to vote in the Labour leadership contest for £3 as a registered supporter.

Corbyn hit out at the campaign on Sunday. He told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics: “If people do not support the Labour party and do not wish to vote Labour, either in future elections or have done so in the past, they should not be registering as Labour supporters. It’s not an honest thing to do.

“It’s not as easy as you think because those that sign have to give an undertaking that they support the aims and principles of the Labour party. I think that’s important, and if they have identified themselves in the last election for example as supporting another party, then clearly one questions their motivation in this.”

Unite overwhelmingly backed Miliband in the 2010 leadership race, and the union’s block vote helped him narrowly beat his brother, David.

In a statement, Corbyn said it was a great honour to receive Unite’s nomination, and that underlined that his campaign had growing momentum.

“The leadership election is about one issue above others: whether we accept another five years of a race to the bottom based on cuts that destroy services and damage living standards, or whether we invest our way to growth and fairness,” he said.

“Without trade unions there would be no Equal Pay Act, no minimum pay, no Labour party. Trade unions are a force for good, a force for prosperity and we should listen to them more.”

Corbyn is still a 16/1 outsider for the Labour leadership, trailing behind Burnham, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, and the shadow care minister, Liz Kendall.

His radical approach could see Labour scrapping its commitment to Trident nuclear weapons and introducing a £10-an-hour minimum wage.

