Sharon Graham re-elected in Unite

Sharon Graham has been reelected as general secretary of Unite the union. She received more than double the votes (68,694) of her rival Simon Dubbins (31,130). The turnout was 10.31%. In previous elections it was 15.8% (2010), 15.2% (2013), 12.2% (2017), and probably around 10.3% in 2021 (the union published no figures then for ballot papers issued, and some say 12%).

Sharon Graham has pitched herself as the “back to workplace” candidate. There has been more industrial success under her leadership, but of late that has declined somewhat. As the turnout for the election shows, this has not translated into more rank and file activity in the union. Under Sharon Graham union democracy has not substantially improved. In some cases (e.g. on publishing Executive Committee minutes) it has become worse.

Most of those who had been aligned to the McCluskey/United Left faction jumped ship to Sharon Graham. Simon Dubbins pitched himself as the “left-wing” candidate, backed by Members United (a rebranding of the now discredited UL).

He is for keeping Unite affiliation to the Labour Party. He pitches himself as being better on Palestine. He is worse industrially than Graham and has been reported as saying that Unite is too quick to take strike action.

Neither candidate came from the rank and file. Workers’ Liberty called for a critical vote for Sharon Graham.

Sharon Graham promised in her manifesto to hold a referendum on Unite's affiliation to the Labour Party. She has at times been more vocal about this and encouraged those on the left and the right of the union who support disaffiliation. Parts of the left, particularly the Socialist Party, used the opportunity to push and win an emergency motion at Policy Conference 2025 that mandated the union to revisit its affiliation to the Labour Party. In March of this year, the union reduced its contribution to the party.

The threat of disaffiliation has been slightly blunted by the appointment of Burnham as Labour leader and Prime Minister. However, it is not off the table. With Rules Conference next year it will take only one branch putting forward a motion on disaffiliation to raise the issue once again. Calculably multiple branches will table such motions.

Workers' Liberty opposes disaffiliation from the Labour Party. Disaffiliation would make Unite less politically relevant not more. The Labour Party is not simply a party to have a transactional relationship with, it is currently the only manifest form of the political wing of the labour movement and is a terrain where socialists and trade unionist ought to fight for working-class politics, rather than removing themselves.

Unite's position on oil, airport expansion and defence has moved further to the right. In each case, you could argue that Sharon Graham and the union leadership are simply acting on democratic mandate of policy passed at conference. However, the leadership does so selectively.

On the environment the union has contradictory policy, endorsing net-zero on the one hand but also calling for more investment in the oil refinery industry on the other. On oil and gas licenses, the official line of the union is to call for “No Ban Without a Plan”. However, Sharon Graham has been more vocal on opposing a ban than suggesting any plan. Moreover, bans on oil and gas licenses have not determined the job losses in the sector. The majority of job losses are down to fluctuations in the global oil and gas market.

On military spending, Unite is now vocally campaigning for an increase in the defence budget. Again the union has contradictory policy on this, and the Unite leadership is selective in what it campaigns on.

On Israel-Palestine much of the left, particularly those who supported Simon Dubbins, have painted Sharon Graham as being insufficiently supportive of the Palestinians. She instructed staff not to support actions outside arms factories, Unite banners were not officially sanctioned on pro-Palestinian demos, and the union has used bureaucratic manoeuvres to avoid a debate on opposing the proscription of Palestine Action. Only under pressure did she and the Unite leadership say they supported workers who refuse to handle weapons going to Israel.

Nevertheless much of the left, including the left in Unite, is mired in a politics that myopically focuses on boycotts and cutting ties with anything to do with Israel. At worst the politics on the left trades in antisemitic conspiracy theories about Israel and Jewish organisations and sees Hamas or the Iranian state as incipiently progressive because they oppose Israel.

Workers' Liberty supports and encourages workers to refuse to handle arms or carry out work that facilitates the Israeli governments’ military aims. Unlike much of the left on this topic we advocate building links with the left, workers and labour organisations in Israel and Palestine, rather supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel. While pressure by pro-Palestinian trade unionists in Unite has pushed the Unite leadership to be better on some things (e.g. not handling arms), it has also encouraged more of the same politics described above, which acts as an obstacle for real binational solidarity with the left and working-class in Israel-Palestine.

The reelection of Graham provides somewhat better terrain to fight for a more militant and democratic Unite than if Dubbins had been elected. Workers' Liberty is for building a real rank and file movement within Unite. We will be discussing what our vision for Unite looks like. Get in touch if you want to discuss.