Graham won a landslide victory, picking up 68,694 votes. Her only opponent – Simon Dubbins – received 31,130 votes. That means Graham won 69 per cent of the votes cast.

Speaking on her re-election, Graham said: “It’s an honour to be re-elected by Unite members to serve as their general secretary. This decisive victory is a powerful mandate to continue change. The trust that members have placed in me will be fully repaid as we step up our focus on delivering for workers.

“Together we have already achieved a huge amount in the last five years.

“My second period of office will continue to be marked by a relentless focus on the jobs, pay and conditions of workers. It will always be members over ministers and the workplace over Westminster.

“We will continue deliver much needed reform to our union. It is my mission to build the industrial and political power required to better serve the working class.

“Workers face many challenges in a changing world. From AI to decarbonisation and rising global tensions. Unite will be at the forefront of a stronger collective rooted in the working class.”

Turnout in the election was 100,089, down on the last contest for the general secretary in 2021. In 2021, 124,147 members voted, with Graham narrowly defeating Steve Turner and Gerard Coyne.

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

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The video from 2023, shows Braverman, who was then a Tory MP, in the Commons saying how proud she was ‘of the high number of Afghans who have been resettled and welcomed into the United Kingdom’.

Around 20,000 people from Afghanistan moved to the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).

Both schemes officially closed to new applications and referrals on July 1, 2025, though applications submitted before that deadline continue to be processed.

The schemes were designed for current or former locally employed staff who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan in exposed or meaningful roles and faced a serious threat to life.

Speaking in the Commons in June 2023, when she was the Tory home secretary, Braverman said: “I am very proud of the high number of Afghans who have been resettled and welcomed into the United Kingdom.

“Between 2015 and 2022, almost 50,000 people have been resettled and relocated, of which over 21,000 were through the Afghan schemes – the ACRS and ARAP.

“And over 28,000 were through established resettlement schemes related to other countries. So I think that is a good track record.”

Since joining Reform however, Braverman has been a vocal critic of the scheme she once praised.

She criticised the scheme on social media after Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, accused former Tory defence secretary Ben Wallace of being “a traitor to Britain” for allowing thousands of Afghans to come to the UK.

In a post on X yesterday, Braverman said ARAP was “an appalling scheme that put huge pressure on the Home Office and yet another mistake by the last Tory government”.

She called both ARAP AND ACRS ‘Great Betrayals by the last Conservative government.’

Her post was even community noted by X with context about how she previously supported the scheme.

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Lewis told Left Foot Forward that approving new North Sea oil and gas licences would be “incompatible with any government claiming to be serious about the climate crisis”.

As Andy Burnham prepares to chair an emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBRA) meeting on the extreme heat affecting the UK today, Lewis said North Sea oil should be “number one” on the agenda. 

The Norwich South MP told Left Foot Forward that if Burnham is “serious” about tackling the climate crisis “then allowing further extraction while the world quite literally burns would send the opposite message to the British public”.

The prime minister has said that in his first phone call with Donald Trump he told him he will take a “pragmatic” approach to oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

In a social media post on Truth Social, Trump claimed Burnham had said he would “open up” North Sea Oil.

Asked about Trump’s comments, Burnham said: “There is a resource there. When people are struggling – you can’t ignore that and hence me indicating that to the president.”

The PM has also not ruled out granting approval for two new oil and gas fields, Jackdaw and Rosebank.

Lewis stated that if Burnham allows further extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea, “It would suggest that, when confronted with the power and interests of the fossil fuel industry, those ambitions [to tackle climate change] are negotiable.”

The Labour backbencher added: “If we believe oil still has a strategic role during the transition, then nationalise it and treat remaining reserves as a strategic national asset. Better still, leave as much of it in the ground as possible. 

“But allowing new oil to be extracted and sold on international markets for billions in private profit, while doing little to lower UK household bills, is incompatible with any government claiming to be serious about the climate crisis, particularly if it wants to retain credibility on the international stage.”

The Green Party leader, Zack Polanski, who called on Burnham to hold a COBRA meeting about the heatwaves in a video on X on 30 July, said Burnham should commit to no new oil and gas extraction in the North Sea.

In a statement, Polanski said: “When the country is burning and people are dying, the PM had to call this meeting. But this is only a first step. 

“This is a climate emergency which is leading to hundreds of deaths and stretching our firefighters, health staff and farmers to the limit. What we urgently need is concrete action.

“That must include taxing fossil fuel giants to pay for firefighting helicopters, a cool space in every community, and a maximum working temperature.

“The prime minister must also commit to no new oil and gas extraction in the North Sea. We cannot negotiate with the science.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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As Farage prepares to stand in the Clacton by-election tomorrow, The Sun has reported that Farage has “no regrets accepting” the money.

Farage was not asked whether he has any regrets about failing to declare the gift. He has previously insisted he did not need to declare the gift as he wasn’t an MP when he received it in April 2024.

However, Sunday Times reporting revealed that Farage had negotiated a deal with then-Reform leader Richard Tice to return to lead the party in March and April 2024.

Farage originally said Harborne had given him the money to pay for security for the rest of his life. 

He has since said that he was given “the unconditional gift” for campaigning for Brexit, and subsequently that he could spend the money on whatever he wanted, stating: “I can spend it on cars if I want to”.

Asked if he would still have taken the money if he knew about the subsequent scrutiny over it, he said he would due to Ann Widdecombe’s death.

He added that he will need security “till the day I die”, saying: “You can see that around me now”.

He made the comment after two members of the public heckled him and questioned him about the £5 million gift.

The Reform leader was under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg before he resigned as an MP on 7 July.

The Times reported that Farage and his team were not aware that the standards investigation would be reopened if he resigned as an MP and was re-elected in a by-election.

The investigation will likely be reopened if he is re-elected tomorrow.

However, Farage made clear he would like to dodge further investigation, stating: “If I get the result I want, if Standards decide that they want to do it again, well, I think they’d look rather silly.”

The Reform politician branded parody candidate Count Binface the “Establishment candidate”, and said that if he wins with “a big thumping vote” that it will “be a message back to an Establishment that’s done its best over the last few months, not to give us an even break, literally on anything”.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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It means Reform is now consistently polling behind the Labour Party in the polls, after a tumultuous few months that have seen Farage embroiled in scandals over his failure to adequately declare financial support and his decision to quit as an MP for Clacton only to re-stand in this Thursday’s by-election.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has set the Labour Party on a different direction since becoming leader, vowing the biggest political change in 40 years and to reverse neo-liberalism while prioritising bold and radical measures to help tackle the cost of living crisis.

The Prime Minister is currently touring the country to better understand people’s concerns on the cost of living and has already announced a cut to VAT on electricity bills, a cap on bus fares and a pledge to end rough sleeping.

According to the latest poll, Labour are on 24%, an increase of 2 points, while Reform are on 22% a decline of one point. Meanwhile the Tories are on 21%, while the Greens are on 12%.

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Councillor Vanessa Tyler made the comment on a Facebook post after Poland passed a bill in 2024 which included a measure allowing soldiers to open fire on migrants at borders if they felt “under threat”.

Tyler, who was elected as a Reform councillor for Plympton St Mary ward in Plymouth in May, commented on a post about the Polish policy, stating: “This is what Reform and Restore would do if they get in… Do you not care about our country?”.

Her comments have even been criticised by fellow Reform councillors.

Councillor Carol Ney, who only defected from Labour to Reform in April, has resigned from Reform over its handling of the comments.

Ney has said Tyler should be suspended and that there should be “more reprimand” by the Reform group leader.

Steve Ricketts, the leader of the Reform group on Plymouth City Council, has refused to take action against Tyler over her comment.

Ricketts reportedly told other Reform councillors that he backed her “100%” and that they needed to “get behind her”.

Tyler has deleted the post in question and privately apologised to the group of Reform councillors.

Ricketts said he had decided to take no further action, stating: “We believe in second chances and felt that no further action needed to be taken.”

Plymouth Labour is calling on Ricketts to suspend Tyler while an investigation into her comments takes place.

“It’s incredibly shocking to see a member of our council appearing to endorse the shooting of illegal immigrants,” Plymouth City Council deputy leader, councillor Jemima Laing, said.

Laing said it wasn’t the first time Ricketts had not taken action over a councillor sharing “abhorrent messages”.

Days after Reform councillor Ben Rowe was elected in May, he was suspended over a series of antisemitic and islamophobic comments he made online. He was later reinstated to the party following an investigation.

Ricketts was criticised for failing to condemn Rowe’s comments and for not removing him from the Reform council group.

“This time I’m urging him [Ricketts] to do the right thing by suspending Cllr Tyler and to condemn her comments,” Laing said.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Farage has slapped down Zia Yusuf after he described a former Tory cabinet minister who served in the Army “a traitor to Britain”.

Farage told the Sun that Yusuf’s comments were ‘over the top’ and added: “That is too strong a language. I shall give him a ticking off, don’t worry.”

The Reform leader made the comments after Yusuf took aim at former Tory cabinet minister Ben Wallace after he criticised Reform’s plan to fix the shortage of prison spaces by sending foreign criminals abroad. Wallace had posted on X asking Reform to set out how it would work in practice, given that many countries have refused to take offenders.

Rather than engage with his points, Yusuf attacked Wallace calling him a ‘traitor’. He posted on X: “Incredible that this moron was defence secretary.

“Our policy today is in direct response to your government’s failures.

“If their home countries won’t take back, their citizens that are languishing in our jails, we are renting spaces in countries like El Salvador to put them.

“They will serve their full jail terms there, and will be banned from ever coming back to Britain.

“They may well include some of the thousands of Afghans you imported, including those who had not been vetted properly and including Taliban fighters (!).

“You know, the ones you took a super injunction out to keep secret from the British people? That’s why I call you a traitor to Britain. You fit the dictionary definition.”

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Yesterday, Reform announced that it would deport foreign prisoners to their home countries, or to jails in El Salvador or Kosovo.

Farage also mentioned Lithuania and Estonia as potential options for where the UK could send some of the 10,000 foreign nationals in British prisons. 

However, just hours after Farage suggested working with Estonia, an Estonian government spokesperson ruled out a prison rental deal.

As reported by the Metro’s Luke Alsford, the spokesperson said it was not “considering any additional prison rental cooperation agreements with other governments”.

Reform has said their policy would put an end to early release schemes Labour has been using to ease severe prison overcrowding. 

Farage claimed, without providing figures, that the cost of the party’s plan to rent prison places abroad for foreign nationals would be “half per prisoner”.  

He added that the plan “is going to save us over the next decade several billion pounds”.

Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said Belgium and Norway trialed sending prisoners to the Netherlands, but that it proved “difficult” and “costly”.

Sinha told Left Foot Forward: “The suggestion that all foreign national prisoners could simply be removed from our prisons risks presenting a complex challenge as a quick fix.

“While the government should make use of deportation and prisoner transfer arrangements where lawful and appropriate, proposals to send people overseas on a large scale raise significant practical, legal and ethical questions.

“Countries including Belgium and Norway have already tested versions of this approach, demonstrating just how difficult, costly and limited such arrangements can be.”

She added: “With warnings that prison capacity could again be exhausted as soon as this autumn, the idea that overseas prison deals could provide a meaningful solution is simply not credible. The government needs measures that can deliver real reductions in the prison population now, not proposals that risk generating more headlines than prison places.”

Amnesty International has separately spoken out about the human rights implications of sending prisoners to El Salvador.

The human rights group described the proposal as “financial brutality with British taxpayers’ money” and said it is an example of politicians choosing to put “hate, violence and inhumanity” ahead of leadership.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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On one of the shows, a guest appeared to link pride parades with bestiality and paedophilia. 

A total of 12,000 people then joined the Good Law Project in complaining about a segment entitled “Is Pride suitable for families?” on Alex Armstrong Tonight on 5 July.

On the show, Caroline Farrow of CitizenGO – a lobby group which campaigns against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights – claimed that Pride “is not about gay rights”.

Farrow said pride had become about celebrating “bestiality” and “minor attracted people, you know, paedophiles”.

Farrow’s comments echo remarks made by GB News host Josh Howie in January 2025, when he spoke about “the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons… that includes paedos”. 

The other investigation relates to complaints made on GB News’s The Saturday Five in June. 

During the show, right-wing influencer Based and Bougie claimed that gay men are “more prone” to “sexual deviancy” and “child sexual assault with their adopted children”.

Ofcom received 3,000 complaints about The Saturday Five, following campaigns by RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Bimini and influencer Liam Rondi.

The videos have now been removed from GB News’ YouTube channel.

This isn’t the first time Ofcom has investigated GB News over anti-LGBT content. After receiving 71,500 complaints about Howie linking the LGBT community to paedophilia, Ofcom investigated them.

However, the media regulator did not sanction GB News as the channel had already apologised and broadcast a fuller discussion about the context of the comment within two-and-a-half weeks of the original programme.

Good Law Project lawyer Matthew Gill said the “hateful trope” about LGBTQ+ people broadcast by GB News “puts the community at risk”.

“When GB News tried to make a link between LGBTQ+ people and paedophilia before,” Gill said, “Ofcom found the broadcast was highly offensive and yet did nothing about it. The regulator must impose meaningful sanctions to stop this rogue channel repeating these vicious lies again and again.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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The dire poll ratings come ahead of Thursday’s Clacton by-election in which Farage is re-standing and which other major political parties have boycotted describing his decision to quit as MP for the constituency as a stunt.

The poll, carried out by Lord Ashcroft, put Labour on 27%, up 6 points, while the Tories are on 23%, an increase of 2 points.

Reform however are on 18 points, down 3 points.

It comes as Andy Burnham continues to enjoy a ‘Burnham bounce’ in the polls, as he vows to transform Britain’s political and economic system and to tackle the cost of living crisis.

The Prime Minister has set out a raft of measures already, including capping bus fares, cutting VAT on electricity bills and pledged to end rough sleeping.

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