Jeremy Corbyn receives Unison's backing for Labour leadership
Britain's second-biggest union backs Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour top job while bookmakers name the veteran left-winger as favourite

Unison backed Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership Photo: AFP/Getty
By Emily Gosden
4:22PM BST 29 Jul 2015
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Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership campaign has received a major boost after he won the backing of Britain’s second-biggest trade union, Unison.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the union, which has 1.3 million members, said Mr Corbyn’s message had “resonated with public sector workers” and that “their choice shows a clear need for change towards a fairer society”.
Unison, which had been expected by some to back Yvette Cooper, instead named her as its second-choice candidate. The decision was taken by Unison’s 23-strong National Labour Link Committee “following a thorough consultation with all the regions”, it said.
About 28,000 Unison members are Labour party members while a further 15,000 have signed up as supporters to be eligible to vote in the leadership contest, the union said.
The number is expected to rise as the 430,000 members who have actively opted in to its political fund are encouraged to register.
Unison's move follows the decision by Britain’s biggest union, Unite, earlier this month to also name Mr Corbyn as their first choice.
Unite, which is led by Len McCluskey, had been expected to back Mr Burnham but named him as their second choice.
The RMT rail union and Fire Brigades Union are among other trade unions to back Mr Corbyn.
More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11771146/Jeremy-Corbyn-receives-Unisons-backing-for-Labour-leadership.html