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Trade union Unison has a new leader, who disapproves of Labour’s direction under Keir Starmer.
The Guardian tells us: “The new general secretary of Unison has declared the trade union will end its support for the “destructive right wing of the Labour party” and said any leadership election in 2026 should not swap Keir Starmer for Wes Streeting.
“Andrea Egan, who won a decisive victory as a leftwing challenger this week, hit out at Streeting in an article for the Guardian over his handling of the resident doctors’ dispute, saying it was “simply unacceptable for a Labour politician to describe striking workers as morally reprehensible”.
“She also called on Starmer to “act now” to stop Palestine solidarity campaigners having “to starve protesting for their basic rights”, in reference to the prisoners on hunger strike.
“Her blunt remarks indicate that Unison, a leading union for health and social care workers, is on course for a collision with Streeting and Labour more widely over its approach to industrial action and the Middle East.”
This is a warning shot across the bows of the Labour government rather than an immediate crisis – but it is a serious one.
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Unison is not just any union – it is the UK’s largest in terms of public-sector representation, deeply embedded in health, social care and local government, and one of Labour’s biggest financial backers.
When its incoming general secretary says she intends to end support for the “destructive right wing of the Labour party”, she is signalling a shift away from the transactional, leadership-friendly relationship that developed under Starmer.
That changes the political weather around the government.
The most immediate consequence is pressure: Wes Streeting, already a lightning rod because of his stance on resident doctors and NHS reform, now faces organised opposition from a union that represents large numbers of NHS staff.
Even if Unison does not break with Labour outright, it can make life uncomfortable, with public criticism, conditional funding, coordinated campaigning with Unite and others, and refusal to provide political cover during disputes.
In a government whose reform agenda depends on staff buy-in, that matters.
Financial leverage is part of this, but not the whole story. With Andrea Egan aligning Unison more closely with Sharon Graham’s Unite, Labour faces a more assertive trade union bloc that is less interested in loyalty for its own sake.
The message is that support will be earned issue by issue. For a government already trimming manifesto commitments on employment rights, that removes a safety net it has relied on.
Politically, this sharpens Labour’s internal fault lines: Egan is explicitly framing the next leadership contest, warning that a move from Starmer to Streeting would represent continuity of a rightward drift rather than renewal.
That matters because unions still shape the party’s ecosystem, even in an era when leadership elections are no longer union-dominated.
Egan’s intervention helps legitimise dissent inside Labour at a time when Starmer’s leadership style has been centralised and disciplinary.
There is also a reputational cost.
Labour has tried to present itself as the natural party of working people while governing cautiously to reassure business.
When the general secretary of Britain’s biggest union says the party is propping up politicians who “make our lives worse”, that narrative frays.
It reinforces the idea, already circulating on the left, that Labour is managing decline rather than challenging power.
That said, this does not mean imminent paralysis.
The government still has a working relationship with the TUC, and unions have backed substantial elements of the employment rights bill despite compromises. Egan herself stresses engagement rather than withdrawal from politics.
This is leverage, not rupture.
The deeper implication is strategic. Labour can no longer assume that unions will absorb disappointment quietly for the sake of electoral unity.
If Starmer’s government continues to dilute reforms, take a hard line on industrial action, or triangulate on foreign policy and protest, it risks sustained pressure from its own movement base.
That pressure may not topple the government, but it will constrain how far it can drift right without paying a price – in funding, legitimacy, and internal cohesion.
In short: the government is still in control, but the ground has shifted.
Labour now governs with a large, influential union openly declaring that loyalty to the leadership is no longer automatic, and that is a fundamentally different political landscape from the one Starmer inherited.
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Has Unison declared war on Labour?
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Trade union Unison has a new leader, who disapproves of Labour’s direction under Keir Starmer.
The Guardian tells us: “The new general secretary of Unison has declared the trade union will end its support for the “destructive right wing of the Labour party” and said any leadership election in 2026 should not swap Keir Starmer for Wes Streeting.
“Andrea Egan, who won a decisive victory as a leftwing challenger this week, hit out at Streeting in an article for the Guardian over his handling of the resident doctors’ dispute, saying it was “simply unacceptable for a Labour politician to describe striking workers as morally reprehensible”.
“She also called on Starmer to “act now” to stop Palestine solidarity campaigners having “to starve protesting for their basic rights”, in reference to the prisoners on hunger strike.
“Her blunt remarks indicate that Unison, a leading union for health and social care workers, is on course for a collision with Streeting and Labour more widely over its approach to industrial action and the Middle East.”
This is a warning shot across the bows of the Labour government rather than an immediate crisis – but it is a serious one.
Unison is not just any union – it is the UK’s largest in terms of public-sector representation, deeply embedded in health, social care and local government, and one of Labour’s biggest financial backers.
When its incoming general secretary says she intends to end support for the “destructive right wing of the Labour party”, she is signalling a shift away from the transactional, leadership-friendly relationship that developed under Starmer.
That changes the political weather around the government.
The most immediate consequence is pressure: Wes Streeting, already a lightning rod because of his stance on resident doctors and NHS reform, now faces organised opposition from a union that represents large numbers of NHS staff.
Even if Unison does not break with Labour outright, it can make life uncomfortable, with public criticism, conditional funding, coordinated campaigning with Unite and others, and refusal to provide political cover during disputes.
In a government whose reform agenda depends on staff buy-in, that matters.
Financial leverage is part of this, but not the whole story. With Andrea Egan aligning Unison more closely with Sharon Graham’s Unite, Labour faces a more assertive trade union bloc that is less interested in loyalty for its own sake.
The message is that support will be earned issue by issue. For a government already trimming manifesto commitments on employment rights, that removes a safety net it has relied on.
Politically, this sharpens Labour’s internal fault lines: Egan is explicitly framing the next leadership contest, warning that a move from Starmer to Streeting would represent continuity of a rightward drift rather than renewal.
That matters because unions still shape the party’s ecosystem, even in an era when leadership elections are no longer union-dominated.
Egan’s intervention helps legitimise dissent inside Labour at a time when Starmer’s leadership style has been centralised and disciplinary.
There is also a reputational cost.
Labour has tried to present itself as the natural party of working people while governing cautiously to reassure business.
When the general secretary of Britain’s biggest union says the party is propping up politicians who “make our lives worse”, that narrative frays.
It reinforces the idea, already circulating on the left, that Labour is managing decline rather than challenging power.
That said, this does not mean imminent paralysis.
The government still has a working relationship with the TUC, and unions have backed substantial elements of the employment rights bill despite compromises. Egan herself stresses engagement rather than withdrawal from politics.
This is leverage, not rupture.
The deeper implication is strategic. Labour can no longer assume that unions will absorb disappointment quietly for the sake of electoral unity.
If Starmer’s government continues to dilute reforms, take a hard line on industrial action, or triangulate on foreign policy and protest, it risks sustained pressure from its own movement base.
That pressure may not topple the government, but it will constrain how far it can drift right without paying a price – in funding, legitimacy, and internal cohesion.
In short: the government is still in control, but the ground has shifted.
Labour now governs with a large, influential union openly declaring that loyalty to the leadership is no longer automatic, and that is a fundamentally different political landscape from the one Starmer inherited.
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