Mandate to take industrial and political lead

Sharon Graham has been re-elected as Unite General Secretary in a decisive victory over her opponent, Simon Dubbins, Unite’s Director of International and Research.

We will produce a fuller analysis of the election and what it means for Unite going forward, but Sharon’s victory, by 68,694 votes to 31,130, is a clear message that members want to maintain Unite as a militant industrial union, and correctly saw the challenge of Dubbins and the United Left as a threat to this.

It is significant that members from a whole number of disputes have been campaigning for Sharon Graham’s re-election. This has in included leading reps from the heroic Birmingham binworkers, on indefinite strike since March 2025.

Being brutally fired and rehired by a Labour council, backed by a Labour government, it was the driver behind an emergency motion being passed at last year’s Unite Policy Conference to open up a discussion within the union about its relationship with Labour.

This debate has been posed even sharper by Burnham replacing Starmer in No.10, in order to best arm Unite members for what is needed right now.

Sharon Graham’s victory on the back of the left, including Socialist Party members, winning a majority on the Unite Executive Council earlier this year, represents a renewed mandate for Unite to take the industrial and political lead as workers face the cost-of-living crisis and the bosses’ offensive.