UNITE assistant general secretary Sharon Graham has pitched herself as the “back to the workplace candidate” in the trade union’s leadership election.

Launching her campaign today, as did her colleague Steve Turner, the union’s United Left’s choice to succeed Len McCluskey as general secretary, Ms Graham said: “Things cannot return to business as usual post-Covid. If Unite is to face the massive challenge of fighting for jobs, fighting for wages and defending conditions it must be built at the workplace as never before. New times demand new ways to defend workers.”

Ms Graham’s supporters stress her role in developing Unite’s Organising Department and say that “she has led, and won, a host of major disputes on blacklisting, defending stewards and fighting for a better deal - all at workplace level.”

She is now launching a campaign to secure union recognition at Amazon. “Our Amazon campaign, which we are in for the long haul, is an indication that Unite will become a real fighting force in the battle against union-busting employers if I become the general secretary,” she said.