Loser in Unite leadership race seeks annulment of result over ‘manipulation’
He was defeated by incumbent Len McCluskey for the post of general secretary.
The man who lost the contest to lead Britain’s biggest trade union has lodged an official complaint about the result.
Gerard Coyne, who was defeated by Len McCluskey for the post of general secretary of Unite, has appealed to the Certification Officer for the result to be annulled.
The union criticised the move, coming less than a week before the General Election, and said it was confident the election complied with the law.
Mr Coyne, who was suspended from his job as a Unite regional officer the day before the result was announced in April, polled 53,544 votes to Mr McCluskey’s 59,067.
Mr Coyne, who has submitted a 38-page document, said: “The complaint demonstrates – in multiple ways – that the procedures of Unite have been manipulated by Mr McCluskey and by the union machine which supported his re-election campaign.
“It is absolutely clear that the electoral process was subverted to the aim of securing a re-election of Mr McCluskey as the incumbent general secretary and that members of Unite were denied free and fair democratic elections. It is now vital that the election is re-run.”
His claims include “systematic breaches” of guidelines, being prevented from asking whether union resources were properly used, and breaching rules over branch nominations.
A Unite spokesman said: “Unite members will be deeply disappointed that Mr Coyne has chosen this critical moment in the fortunes of the Labour movement to launch an unnecessary attack on his own union, something which can only help the floundering Tories.
“It is regrettable that he has decided not to use the union’s internal procedures, which include the office of an independent election commissioner to review complaints, and further deplorable that he has notified the media before anyone else of his intentions.
“Unite is fully confident that the conduct of the general secretary election conformed to both the law of the land and the rules of the union.
“We will of course co-operate fully with the certification officer and respond to the specific issues raised when we have sight of them.”
