Len McCluskey

Early life

McCluskey was born in Liverpool and went to the Cardinal Godfrey School in Everton. After leaving school as a teenager, he went to work for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company and remained there for the next 11 years.

Trade unionist

McCluskey first became a trade unionist in 1968, while working on the docks. He became a shop steward a year later, aged 19, and joined the Labour Party in 1970. He became an officer of the TGWU in Merseyside in 1979 and was its campaign organiser throughout the 1980s, during which he supported Militant tendency, but was not a member of it.

McCluskey was elected as the National Secretary of the TGWU General Workers Group in 1990, and moved to London to work in the union's national headquarters. In 2004 he became the TGWU's national organiser for the service industries.

Unite

In 2007, he was appointed as the Assistant General Secretary for Industrial Strategy of the newly merged Unite the Union. He defines himself as being on the left of the union, and has been given the label of "Red Len" in the British press because of his involvement in Unite's dispute with British Airways.

In 2010, McCluskey stood for in a one term election as General Secretary of Unite to replace joint-General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, who had both announced their retirement. He said he would serve one term: "I will be able to take some of the difficult decisions that need to be taken without worrying about re-election." On 21 November 2010, it was announced that McCluskey had won the election. He was elected with the following results:

Len McCluskey: 101,000 votesJerry Hicks: 52,000 votesLes Bayliss: 46,000 votesGail Cartmail: 39,000 votesTurnout: 16%

Derek Simpson retired a few weeks later, in December 2010, and Tony Woodley followed shortly after that, leaving McCluskey to take office as the General Secretary on 1 January 2011. In 2013, McCluskey announced that he would be running for re-election as General Secretary. He was re-elected in 2013 with the following results:

Len McCluskey: 144,570 votesJerry Hicks: 79,819 votesTotal number of valid votes cast: 224,389Turnout: 15.2%

In 2013, McCluskey co-signed a letter which was published in The Guardian newspaper to announce his support for the People's Assembly movement. He also gave a speech at the closing plenary of the People's Assembly Conference, held at Westminster Central Hall on 22 June 2013.

In December 2016 McCluskey resigned as General Secretary and stood again in the resulting leadership election. He was re-elected in April 2017.

Falkirk Labour investigation

In July 2013, McCluskey accused Labour of "picking the wrong fight" over the selection of a prospective candidate in the Falkirk constituency. He described Labour party headquarters' handling of the matter as "nothing short of disgraceful".

In November 2013, McCluskey denied fresh claims that his Unite Union had tried to prevent a Labour Party investigation into alleged vote rigging in Falkirk.

Threat to split from Labour

In March 2015, McCluskey threatened to disaffiliate Unite from Labour and launch a new workers' party if Labour lost the 2015 general election.

Personal life

McCluskey was married to Ann for 25 years, and the couple have an adult son. After moving to London as part of the T&GWU national operation in 1991 whilst still married, his partner Jennie Formby (née Sandle), gave birth to a child at Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton. McCluskey lives with his partner Paula Lace. In 2013, Jennie Formby was appointed Unite's political director on £75,000, replacing Steve (Stephen) Hart, who was the son of Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark.

In 1994, McCluskey made headlines after it was reported that he had received financial assistance of £90,000 to buy a house with Formby in NW10, London. In January 2016 McCluskey was then given further assistance of £417,000 from the union to buy an apartment in Borough, London. The Union stated it was a shared equity arrangement made with officials required to move to London, with the property being sold after the official left the post:

"The property was purchased under a shared equity arrangement designed to assist senior union officials required to move to London from elsewhere for their work ... Identical or similar arrangements have been used to assist previous general secretaries of the union over decades, and indeed other officials from time to time. The arrangements are commonplace across unions, they avoid the issue of expenses (such as with MPs) and provide good investment return for the union concerned.