Make or break for Rebecca Long-Bailey as powerful Unite union meets TODAY to decide who to endorse in Labour leadership race with shadow business secretary the favourite to get the nod as Emily Thornberry attacks ‘machine politician’ rivals

• Unite union executive meeting in London to decide Labour leader endorsement
• Union chiefs will interview candidates before announcing decision this evening
• Rebecca Long-Bailey is widely expected to get the powerful union’s support 
• That would put her within touching distance of making it onto the final ballot
• Meanwhile, outsider Emily Thornberry labelled her rivals ‘machine politicians’ 

Rebecca Long-Bailey could be within touching distance of making it into the final round of the Labour leadership contest by the end of the day as the powerful Unite union meets to decide who to back.

Unite’s executive will convene in London today when it will interview the candidates before announcing its decision late this afternoon or early this evening.

Ms Long-Bailey is widely expected to be given the nod by the union – Labour’s biggest donor which is led by leading Jeremy Corbyn ally Len McCluskey. 

If the shadow business secretary does get Unite’s endorsement she will only need to win the backing of one more Labour affiliate to make it onto the ballot of party members. 

Sir Keir Starmer and Lisa Nandy have already secured their places in the membership vote but the remaining candidate, Emily Thornberry, is facing an uphill struggle to progress having failed to win any major union backing. 

The shadow foreign secretary tried to breathe new life into her campaign last night as she launched a vicious attack on her rivals, labelling Sir Keir and Ms Long-Bailey ‘machine politicians’.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, pictured at a campaign event in London on Tuesday, is widely expected to be endorsed by the Unite union today

Labour leadership hustings cancelled

The Labour leadership hustings in Leeds scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled after Sir Keir Starmer pulled out as his mother-in-law was critically ill in hospital, the party has said.

The shadow Brexit secretary announced yesterday that he was suspending campaigning after his mother-in-law was involved in a serious accident.

Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby said that to ensure fairness to all the candidates, the party’s procedures committee had agreed tomorrow’s hustings should not now go ahead.

The deputy leadership hustings will take place as planned.

To make it onto the final ballot candidates must win the nominations of 33 local constituency Labour parties or three Labour affiliates, including at least two trade unions. 

That means without the backing of one of the big unions, a candidate will likely have to go the much more arduous route of sewing up a raft of endorsements from local parties in order to stand a chance.

Ms Long-Bailey has already got the support of the Bakers, Foods and Allied Workers union and the support of Unite would leave her needing the backing of just one more group. 

She is viewed as the ‘continuity Corbyn’ candidate in the race and she has the backing of the current party leadership and hard-left activists. 

It would be a huge shock if Unite opted to back one of the other three candidates in a move which would likely sink Ms Long-Bailey’s hopes of succeeding Mr Corbyn.

Mr McCluskey said ahead of today’s meeting that ‘whoever becomes the leader will have the full support of Unite’. 

However, the union’s executive is reportedly leaning towards recommending its members give Ms Nandy their second preference votes in a huge boost for the Wigan MP’s chances of success. 

The leadership ballot will use an alternative vote system which will see members rank candidates in order of preference. 

Candidates will be eliminated round-by-round and their second preference votes will be reallocated until one of the challengers has secured more than 50 per cent of support. 

Ms Nandy’s campaign team believe many people who vote for the other three candidates will put her name second which means she could gain ground as the votes are counted, allowing her to spring a surprise. 

Sir Keir is currently the favourite to take over from Mr Corbyn with Ms Long-Bailey the bookmaker’s second favourite and Ms Nandy third. 

Emily Thornberry, pictured in Liverpool at a hustings event on January 18, has labelled Ms Long-Bailey and Sir Keir Starmer ‘machine politicians’

Ms Thornberry is viewed as the rank outsider in the race and last night she tried to kickstart her campaign by attacking her rivals as she suggested they were already plotting leadership bids in the run up to the general election. 

She told ITV: ‘The truth is, is that I had a standing start, so I threw everything into the general election and I started after the general election. I didn’t think that’s necessarily the case with everybody else.’ 

Asked to clarify her remarks, she said: ‘I’m saying no more than me. I started after the general election and we now have two machines, and we have two machine politicians, one on the left and one maybe perceived to be on the right. And there’s a bit of squeeze going on.’  

Candidates who do secure the required support will be put to a ballot of party members between February 21 and April 2. 

The winner of the contest is due to be announced at a special event on April 4. 

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