Sir Keir Starmer is holding talks with the Labour-affiliated trade unions today as he tries to change the way his party elects its leaders. He’s hoping that he will get the backing of Unison, Usdaw and the GMB, which party sources say will then unlock the support of his deputy Angela Rayner. Starmer didn’t share his plans to shake up the party’s voting system – by returning it to the electoral college rather than one member, one vote (OMOV) – with Rayner before he announced it to the shadow cabinet yesterday.
So far the reaction has been as noisy as Starmer presumably planned it to be. The left of Labour is furious, saying that removing OMOV means MPs will be more important than rank-and-file members. Unite and CWU have flat out opposed the move. His allies insist that this is not just an attempt to pick a fight to get attention, but that Starmer really does think the changes will improve the way the party picks its leader and makes policy.
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