Ed Miliband and Unions

Unions’ Lolita?

The 2010 Labour leadership election became a fight between two brothers, the older David Miliband and the younger Ed Miliband. Both had credentials, endorsements and support from former Labour leaders, MEPs, and Constituency Labour parties, but a certain type of group had just enough put Ed Miliband over the top. That was the Labour Unions. Being only 40 years old, Ed Miliband became the youngest Labour leader ever, and seemingly the darling of the Trade Unions that support Labour.

The secrets

The problem started with finding a replacement for MP Eric Joyce, and an internal report by the National Executive Committee (NEC) found irregularities with the choosing of the candidates for the Falkirk Constituency. Specifically, people were being signed up for Labour without their knowledge in an attempt to stack the election for Labour. The NEC then suspended candidates Karie Murphy and Falkirk party chairman Stephen Deans, which was met with outcry from the Labor's largest financial backer; the trade union, Unite. Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey then criticized the Labour party in response, saying "Unite is being subjected to a behind the scenes smear campaign. We will be challenging this procedure and this campaign through all the proper channels within the party, publicly and legal action if necessary." Stephen Deans admitted that Unite is connected to up to 41 constituencies. Then Tom Watson MP resigned as Labour's 2015 general election campaign chief.

 A Comfortable Distance

Ed Miliband needed to react fast, as his leaderhsip abilities already called into question since the beginning he couldn't afford to look like Unite was really pulling the strings behind Labour. Ed Miliband announced that the NEC had the authority in the internal investigation, and the Labour party should refer to their findings. Then came the press conference...

Growing a spine or biting the hand that feeds you?

On July 9th, in a live television conference, Ed Miliband proposed sweeping changes to how union members become affiliated to the Labour, as well as a primary vote for the mayor of London elections. Ed Miliband pronounced himself and his party to be heading towards a new direction, that every person who joins a union must make a conscious choice to join Labour also and they're membership into the party is a separate monetary contribution. Ed Miliband poised himself to stand against 'machine politics.' The question becomes how this effects Labour's ability to generate campaign finance from the Unions that continue to support them, and more importantly will the unions continue to support Miliband going forward. There have been grumblings (mainly from Unite), but the majority seem loyal in the short term. That said 2015 is still 2 years away, and this could be the moment that Ed Miliband shakes his 'weak leader' image or the moment that ruined Labour's chances by fundamentally hurting the traditional relationship between Labour and Unions.

The test says the two are Naughty, but Nice.