Andrea Egan Elected Unison General Secretary, Promises Shift from Labour Right
Andrea Egan has been elected general secretary of Unison, the UK's largest trade union and a major Labour donor, and will take up the role in January, replacing Christina McAnea. Egan, a left-wing former Labour member expelled in 2022 for sharing Socialist Appeal content, is the first ordinary member to lead the union, signaling a democratic renewal.
She has pledged to put members first and reverse Unison's industrial underachievement by scaling up the 2021 'organising to win' approach, including holding a strike-ready conference to mobilize workplace representatives with new organizing methods. Unison will actively fight employers for members’ pay and conditions, targeting Reform UK-run local councils and Wes Streeting’s Department of Health and Social Care.
Egan vows to end Unison's support for what she calls the Labour Party's "destructive right wing" and urges Keir Starmer to act on issues such as Palestinian solidarity protests. She cautions that the 2026 Labour leadership contest should not replace Starmer with Wes Streeting, whose record she criticizes, particularly in relation to the resident doctors’ dispute. Egan describes attacks on striking workers as morally reprehensible and stresses the need to uphold the labour movement’s core values beyond leadership politics.
Her stance suggests a shift for Unison towards a more left-wing approach akin to Unite, moving away from propping up right-leaning Labour leaderships amid cultural issues within the union. Egan frames her election victory as a collective achievement for ordinary Unison members and highlights the underpayment of public-sector workers who keep the country running.
Regarding Labour’s Employment Rights Act reform, there is debate about a compromise introduced—such as a six-month protection qualifying period instead of two years—with some proposals from Labour Together to scrap protections to boost the economy, though the party maintains the Act remains the best way to provide security. Wes Streeting’s spokesperson defended his record, pointing to fair pay agreements and denying closing the door on resident doctors or the BMA after a substantial pay rise, while cautioning about the impact of strikes on patients.
