Incumbent general secretary (GS) Sharon Graham‘s disengagement from the politics Unite should be pushing for its members. The cushy cowardice of her paid organisers. These are the reasons a well-known MP and an elected Unite executive (EC) member have cited for calling on Unite members to support challenger Simon Dubbins in Unite’s GS election.

The MP

Scottish MP Brian Leishman is one of only a handful of Labour MPs to show honour and humanity over Israel’s genocide in Gaza. And Leishman was straightforward in his assessment of the GS contest: under Sharon Graham, Unite is betraying its members by ‘removing itself’ from the political fight their interests require:

Unite have removed themselves from politics at Westminster. That needs to change. I’m backing @SimonDubbins67 for General Secretary.

Our Gen Sec should be involved with a Labour government pushing for an economic & industrial agenda that looks after workers and communities. pic.twitter.com/qci9JlLhAM

— Brian Leishman (@BrianLeishmanMP) July 21, 2026

The EC member for construction

Stuart Grice is a member of Unite’s EC from the union’s huge construction sector. In a post to his social media last week, Grice had a withering assessment of Graham’s gang of paid ‘organiser’ hangers-on. As far as he’s concerned, the real organisers are out on picket lines and fighting for members. But he says Graham’s coterie is sitting in plush hotels campaigning for her re-election – an illegal use of union resources – including the use of fake accounts to support Graham and smear Dubbins:

Grice’s full statement reads:

Some organisers are out on picket lines, organising workplaces, supporting members and fighting employers.
Others? They appear to be sitting comfortably in another hotel, campaigning for the current General Secretary, while making false claims about a Unite hotel. The irony is hard to miss.

Hiding behind fake profiles and burner phones while throwing around claims they can’t substantiate isn’t organising—it’s distraction.

Meanwhile, our officers—who were forced into industrial action because of this leadership—are still doing what trade unionists actually do: standing shoulder to shoulder with members every single day.
To our officers: thank you. Your commitment, resilience and integrity haven’t gone unnoticed.

To the organisers who are out there organising, representing members and doing the job with honesty and professionalism: thank you. Together with our officers and members, we are the backbone of our union.

And to those operating from burner phones and anonymous accounts—we see you. We hear you. If your argument only works from behind a fake profile, perhaps it wouldn’t stand up in the open—because it won’t stand up in a General Secretary candidates’ debate.

Trade unionism isn’t about anonymous attacks, smears or protecting careers. It’s about solidarity, integrity and putting members first.

Our union deserves better.
Our members deserve better.
It’s time for a change in leadership.
It’s time for that change now.

Vote Simon Dubbins

As a socialist and anti-fascist, Grice is not a natural ally of armament-happy Graham. But he is joined by a growing number of Graham’s former die-hard supporters who are now backing Dubbins after five years of seeing Graham in action. These include the man who wrote her 2021

Anti-union union boss

And small wonder. Graham’s first tenure as GS has overflowed with alleged anti-union tactics and other alleged and admitted betrayals.

Despite running Unite, Graham has repeatedly been accused of using appalling, anti-union tactics against workers employed by Unite, leading to several strikes. In many cases, these tactics have been seen as Unite’s attempts to protect her husband, Jack Clarke. Clarke is the target of much of the industrial unrest among Unite staff.

Soon after her accession in 2021, Graham created a new Bargaining and Disputes Support Unit (BDSU). Outside of the union’s usual procedures, Clarke was appointed to run it. The appointment was made despite Clarke being on a final warning for bullying and misogyny. As striking workers picketed against Clarke, Graham’s faction staged counter-demonstrations against them and attacked their reps.

Most recently, Graham’s plan to shut down the union’s popular ‘Community’ section has been exposed. And she has been accused of letting odious Labour right-winger Wes Streeting and his team write an attack in her name on potential next chancellor Ed Miliband, to boost Streeting’s prospects under Andy Burnham.

Explosive admission by Unite lawyers

Dramatically, Unite’s lawyers admitted to Skwawkbox that the union had destroyed evidence that workers had gathered against him. This did not stop further complaints and strike action from workers in his new fiefdom, with almost all the women working under him quitting and 90% of Unite’s HQ staff backing strike action.

Unite plays hide-and-seek

Unlike Graham, challenger Simon Dubbins, by contrast, has spoken out consistently against Israel’s genocide and against Unite’s disengagement from wider politics to suit Graham’s narrow ‘workplace only’ agenda. He was suspended as Unite’s international director after refusing to cancel a pro-Palestine fringe event at a Labour conference.

During the nominations phase of the election, Graham hid from union branches and declined to debate Dubbins at any hustings event. Instead, she angered many, including allies, by sending weak proxies in her place. In a July 2026 response, Dubbins publicly challenged Graham to stop hiding and face him in an open debate in front of members.

Ballots in the contest have now been sent out, with a deadline of 11 August for members to register their votes.

By Skwawkbox

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