Len McCluskey is “dabbling in politics all the time” and focused on the Labour party instead of running Unite, according to a rival who hopes to become the new head of Britain’s most powerful union.



Gerard Coyne, the regional secretary from the West Midlands, has declared he will stand against McCluskey, who is seeking a third term as leader.

During a speech setting out his leadership campaign at an event in Birmingham on Tuesday, Coyne said the “time is right for change” at the top as he vowed that his primary focus would be Unite’s 1.4 million members.

“Unite has become too much of a political commentator and not actually focusing on the concerns of our membership,” he told journalists at the city’s landmark Fort Dunlop building.

“The reality here is there’s been much criticism about the fact that the general secretary and the union more generally has just been dabbling in politics all the time.”

Coyne’s official declaration draws up the battle lines for a contest that could also dictate the future of Labour. Questioned by reporters, Coyne refused to be drawn on whether he would maintain support for Jeremy Corbyn if he won.

McCluskey triggered a leadership contest last week by giving notice of his resignation, then immediately announced he would be standing for a third term. The month-long election will take place in the spring, with the result announced on 28 April.

Coyne hopes to win the support of members concerned by Corbyn’s anti-Trident stance, given that thousands of Unite members work in the defence industry, as well as those worried about work in the car industry, after reports suggested that the Labour leader was considering advocating a ban on petrol cars.

Corbyn’s allies see the challenge as another attempt to undermine the Labour leader. A senior source close to Corbyn said it was backed by “enemies within the party” but added that McCluskey would win. “He has support where it matters. This is a key battle for the party,” the source said.



In an article for the Guardian, Coyne makes a direct appeal to ordinary union members, saying they are the ones whose views he wishes to represent.



“Under my leadership, Unite would be a more flexible, responsive and transparent union for all our members,” he said. “Often, they are people who don’t feel ‘political’, even if they are affected by political events. I believe they want a general secretary who spends less time trying to run the Labour party and more time looking after their interests.”

Coyne also made comments that will be seen as a criticism of McCluskey over the use of £400,000 of union funds to help him buy a £700,000 flat near Borough Market in south London. “All too often, members feel the leadership of their union is too remote and out of touch and they get angry and disillusioned when they read about allegations of inappropriate uses of union money. That has to change,” Coyne said.

The union has said the money was part an equity share arrangement commonly used to help general secretaries buy homes in London, and insisted the deal would raise more money for its members when the flat was eventually sold.

Coyne, the son of union activists who has been regional secretary for 15 years and a Unite member for 28, said he would continue to campaign for a Labour government but would prioritise pay deals.



“I passionately believe Unite members would be better off under a Labour government and I will continue to work with anyone to bring that about,” he said. “But I also understand that most of those members want their union officials to concentrate on negotiating pay deals rather than playing at politics.”

McCluskey was elected general secretary in November 2010, shortly after Ed Miliband became the Labour leader. He was re-elected in 2013 for a five-year term and if he wins a new mandate it would authorise him to continue to support Corbyn’s leadership. Unite has 1.4 million members and has given millions of pounds to the party.



McCluskey’s decision to force a new election will be seen by some as a gamble because some Unite members are concerned by Corbyn’s support for a ban on fracking and his lukewarm support for nuclear power. However, McCluskey has a high profile, which has been carefully nurtured this year to appeal to the mainly leftwing activists who tend to vote in Unite elections.

McCluskey’s five-year term was to end in 2018 so he has effectively brought the election forward a year. The 66-year-old would have come under pressure to retire if he had stayed until the end of the scheduled term.

A Militant sympathiser in the 1980s, McCluskey was national secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union before becoming assistant general secretary of Unite, formed from a merger of the TGWU and Amicus.



Despite Coyne’s support from Labour’s parliamentary party and large sections of the union movement, McCluskey is still seen by many as the favourite.