Unite set to face hearing over Len McCluskey election victory
2 min read
Unite is facing an investigation over Len McCluskey’s re-election as general secretary following a probe by the Government’s trade union regulator.
The certification officer has been looking into a number of complaints made by Gerard Coyne, who lost the bitterly-contested battle by fewer than 6,000 votes.
Should the regulator uphold any of the 10 accusations made by Mr Coyne, he could call for the election to be re-run.
Mr McCluskey was re-elected for a third term at the helm of the country's biggest trade union in April.
Just hours after polling ended, Mr Coyne was suspended from the union, with his supporters linking it to criticisms he made of Mr McCluskey during the campaign.
According to The Guardian, any formal hearing into the way the general secretary election was conducted is likely to happen early in the New Year.
Mr Coyne welcomed the move on Twitter.
A Unite source acknowledged that a formal hearing is likely, but claimed that Mr Coyne "has yet to answer queries raised by the certification officer".
A spokeswoman fpr the union said: “Unite is confident that our rules and democracy have been respected through the election process and that any hearing will show this to be the case.”
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