How Labour-affiliated unions have responded to Keir Starmer’s resignation

Keir Starmer has announced he will be resigning as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party.

As part of his resignation statement, Starmer indicated that nominations in the contest to replace him will open on July 9. If there is more than one candidate nominated by MPs in that election, the 11 trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party will have a say on which candidates get through to a full ballot of Labour and affiliated organisation members. Likewise, those trade union members will then get a vote on who succeeds Starmer.

So what are the general secretaries of those affiliated unions saying following Starmer’s announcement.

Dave Calfe the general secretary of the rail union ASLEF was positive about Starmer’s time in office. He said: “We want to thank Keir for the landslide victory of the Labour Party, after 14 years in opposition, at the general election in July 2024. And we want to thank Keir for the Employment Rights Act – the biggest uplift in working people’s rights in a generation – and for bringing Britain’s railways back into public ownership.

“Now we need a Prime Minister, and Labour Party leader, who will deliver Labour’s New Deal for Working People in full and who understands what the Labour Party needs to stand for in the 21^st century.”

Fellow rail union general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust from the TSSA was more critical, saying that this was an opportunity to “pivot to the policies this country and working people desperately need”. She said: “Keir Starmer did the decent thing by resigning before he was forced to. The Labour Party now has an opportunity to pivot to the policies this country and working people desperately need.  

“Wages don’t stretch far enough, our infrastructure is crumbling and living standards have stagnated after the long years of Tory austerity. 

“Britain needs a renewed focus on rebuilding the country under a Labour government which has the drive and determination to truly change millions of lives through social and economic justice. There is not a moment to lose.” 

Likewise, the Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright said that the next prime minister “needs to be clear that the status quo has to change”.

Wright said: “Whoever replaces Keir Starmer needs to be clear that the status quo has to change. The reason we find ourselves with yet another PM standing down is that, like May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak before him, Starmer failed to break with the perceived wisdom of attacking public services, failing to tackle wealth inequality, whilst letting privatised public utilities rip off the people of this country. A new Labour leader needs to learn that lesson and learn it fast.

“For FBU members, this means stepping in to end the threat of fire station closures that puts our members and the public’s lives at risk. There needs to be investment in the fire and rescue service alongside other public services, and as an affiliated trade union, we will be putting that position before any candidate in a leadership election.

“We cannot have more of the same. If we do, then whoever is elected will inevitably have failed in their role and will be out of office at the earliest opportunity.

“The chance to break with the narrative of the past is now, learn the lessons that previous Prime Ministers failed to do and deliver a better future for our members and the people of this country.”

And Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite set out in detail the policies she wanted the next Labour leader to adopt.

Graham said:  “Keir Starmer’s decision to resign was the honourable and right decision.
 
“It is critical now that Labour focuses on delivering for workers and communities.
 
“There is no time to waste, everyday people are literally on their knees. Labour has one last shot to learn from the errors of the last two years. A failure to act, will result in a doomsday scenario for Labour.

“In the short term we need policies that make workers’ lives easier. There must be action to end the freeze on tax thresholds, reversing the fiscal drag, that has pulled workers into unfair tax bands.
 
“Action must be taken immediately on the energy price cap, bill payers are paying hundreds of pounds to profiteers every year, that must end.
 
“There must also be immediate action on industrial strategy, with investment in jobs and industry. That investment must be made now and not at some far off point in the future.

“Given that a contest looks unlikely, we need to move swiftly to policy discussions so the political and economic direction is clear.”

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward