Not everyone at Unite is endorsing Ed Miliband. Jerry Hicks, maverick candidate for the union leadership – the battle takes place this autumn – says he can’t possibly endorse a former New Labour minister.
Instead, in the absence of John McDonnell on the candidate list, he tells me he’s backing Diane Abbott, for her leftwing views and anti-war stance; albeit with reservations. It’s worth taking Hicks seriously given that he came second in a challenge to Derek Simpson (for the leadership of the Amicus wing of Unite) last year, with 25 per cent of the votes.
Meanwhile the only female candidate in the Unite internal contest, Gail Cartmail, has compared her rivals (who also include Len McCluskey and Les Bayliss) to the anti-heroes of a certain Quentin Tarantino film.
“You look at some of those people and it’s like a scene from Reservoir Dogs,” she says on her blog. No idea exactly what she means; that they are stylishly dressed, perhaps?
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey