Labour general secretary Iain McNicol has resigned – but how will the party choose a successor, and who are the contenders? Labour headquarters chief Iain McNicol resigned on Friday evening – in a move that signals the end of the last […]

Labour headquarters chief Iain McNicol resigned on Friday evening – in a move that signals the end of the last bastion of Corbynsceptic control.

The party general secretary said he was stepping down to “pursue new challenges”. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr McNicol had been “a credit to our movement”.

The pair have had a fractious relationship since Mr Corbyn was elected party leader in 2015. Tensions reached their peak during the 2016 leadership challenge.

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On or off the ballot?

Mr McNicol was accused of seeking to exclude Mr Corbyn from the vote. Party HQ and Corbyn allies briefed rival pieces of legal advice as to whether an incumbent would automatically be included on the ballot.

Figures on Labour’s right wing argued that he should have to collect nominations from MPs like any other candidate. At the time, this would have likely meant Mr Corbyn would not even reach a vote of the membership.

In a crunch vote, Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) voted to include Mr Corbyn automatically. The Party rules have since been clarified to ensure incumbents can always stand.

Frozen out

He was also blamed for the party’s decision to impose a retrospective “freeze date” on who could vote in the 2016 leadership election, in which Mr Corbyn scored an easy victory against Owen Smith. Controversially, the NEC voted to bar anyone who joined after January 2016 from taking part.

Disenfranchised party members then won a court judgment annulling the decision. But Mr McNicol led a successful appeal, meaning the freeze was reinstated.

Long-serving

A former GMB union official, Mr McNicol was appointed in 2011.

His seven years at the helm make him the longest serving general secretary since Larry Whitty, who served between 1985 and 1994. Recent office-holders have rarely stayed more than a few years in the job.

Miliband out-voted

Mr McNicol’s appointment was opposed by Ed Miliband’s office at the time. They favoured the more right-wing Chris Lennie, who as Unison’s northern regional secretary is said to have shoe-horned Mr Miliband’s brother David into his South Shields seat in 2001.

Mr McNicol was instead supported by the trade unions and constituency reps on the NEC, who ultimately outvoted leadership loyalists. Tom Watson was absent for the vote.

‘Improved relations’

Amid shifting party dynamics, Mr McNicol allied with figures on the party’s “old right”, including current deputy leader Mr Watson.

But on Friday night a Labour source said relations between the leader and general secretary had “improved considerably” since the 2017 general election. The source stressed Mr McNicol had “chosen to step down at a time the party is in a strong position”, and that he would be staying on for the time being to ensure a “smooth transition”.

What happens next?

Officers of Labour’s NEC will interview candidates before drawing up a shortlist. The full NEC will then vote on the final choice.

NEC leftwingers will push a candidate supportive of Mr Corbyn’s leadership. Some insiders have suggested that the Unite union’s south-east regional secretary Jennie Formby could fulfill this role. Others will favour Andrew Murray, chief of staff at Unite, which is Labour’s largest affiliate.

Meanwhile Corbynsceptics are said to be encouraging longstanding party official Emilie Oldknow to throw her hat into the ring.

Some party democracy campaigners have argued that the general secretary should instead be elected by the membership, or by delegates at Labour conference. But such a change is almost certain not to take place before the next HQ chief is appointed.