We brought you news earlier in the year that Ray Collins, Labour’s general secretary, would soon make way for a successor. Two of the contenders we mentioned, Iain McNicol (political officer of the GMB) and Joe Irvin (former political adviser to Gordon Brown), are still thought to be in the frame. Another front-runner is Chris Lennie, who has been deputy general secretary for around a decade.
There is also a strong rumour that Ed Miliband’s aides have approached several outsiders – businessmen and charity heads – to see if they would be interested in taking the job. (Gordon Brown tried to do the same thing with City fund manager David Pitt-Watson, but he pulled out soon after taking the job.) The idea is apparently to mark another stride away from old New Labour.
Applications must be made by June 27 and the decision will be made by Labour’s NEC (national executive committee) on July 19th.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey