The head of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, has accused a Labour MP of pursuing a “sinister agenda” and making a “disgraceful” allegation of bullying against one of his union members.

The general secretary of Britain’s biggest trade union made his claims in a letter sent directly to former shadow minister Stephen Doughty. Doughty had compared the alleged behaviour of the union member to alleged bullying by Tory activists that led to the death of Elliott Johnson.

Johnson, a young Conservative activist, was found dead on railway tracks in Bedfordshire last September.

Labour MP Stephen Doughty
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Labour MP Stephen Doughty. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
The correspondence between Doughty and McCluskey, which has been leaked to the Guardian, is an escalation of a row over the election of a youth representative to the party’s national executive committee (NEC). James Elliott, the Unite-backed candidate and Momentum member, lost the Young Labour election to the NEC last weekend to Jasmin Beckett, the Labour First candidate, by a slender margin. Both sets of supporters have been accused of bullying and electoral irregularities.

Positions on Labour’s NEC have become highly sought-after because of an internal struggle between the party’s right and left. Supporters of party leader Jeremy Corbyn say they want balance on the NEC to fight off any possible leadership challenge in May.

After the conference, Doughty – who angered Corbyn supporters in January when he resigned live on television from his job as shadow foreign minister – sent an email to the party’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, claiming that a young member of his local branch had been bullied into showing his ballot paper to a named Unite representative.

Doughty, MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, wrote: “My sole concern is the duty of care we have to one of our young Welsh members … We all know politics and internal elections can be a tough game with lots of pressure put to vote for certain candidates on all sides. I doubt there were any angels in this instance.

“But there has to be a limit – not least when it comes to young members. We only have to look at recent events in the Tories to see how this can get out of hand with tragic consequences.”


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The email – which was copied to the secretary of Unite Wales, Andy Richards – enraged McCluskey, whose union is Labour’s most generous donor. He replied directly to Doughty in a letter sent on Unite-headed paper and copied to others including McNicol.

“You can be assured that Unite takes its responsibility to ALL of its members seriously,” McCluskey wrote. “I am, therefore, astonished that you should name in an accusatory way, another young member in your correspondence. This is nothing short of disgraceful.

“No Unite staff or any Unite delegate was involved in any intimidation. Some of the accusations stem from the lack of understanding by the media on how union delegations actually work. Sadly, this lack of understanding extends to Labour MPs who should know better but are too preoccupied in pursuing a more sinister agenda.”

The party has launched an inquiry into the claims of bullying, which is being led by the former Labour leader in the Lords, Jan Royall. She is also investigating claims that Elliott made antisemitic remarks – a claim he denies.

In a separate formal complaint, Elliott claimed that at least nine of his supporters were prevented from voting by party officials, some of whom were supporters of Beckett. After a two-hour meeting of the NEC on Tuesday, the party rejected a request by Elliott to suspend the election of Beckett following a formal complaint.


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McCluskey has now demanded a new, fully independent inquiry into the Young Labour election. “Some in our midst will stop at nothing, including destroying the reputation and hopes of our party’s young activists, in their quest to undermine the Labour leadership,” he said.

Approached by the Guardian, Doughty said: “I am told there is a full investigation into the specific concerns I have raised by Baroness Royall and I have every confidence this will be conducted independently and professionally by her and the Labour party.

“I was disappointed and surprised by some of the tone and nature of the comments made in the letter sent to me. I hope any organisation will take seriously any allegations raised about bullying or intimidation – from wherever they are alleged to come, not least when they involve young people.”

A Labour spokesperson said the party was investigating the bullying claims.

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