Len McCluskey
| Len McCluskey | |
|---|---|
McCluskey speaking at 2016 Labour Party Conference
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| General Secretary of Unite the Union | |
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Assumed office 1 January 2011 |
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| Preceded by |
Derek Simpson Tony Woodley |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Leonard David McCluskey 23 July 1950 Liverpool, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Ann (1971-1994) |
| Domestic partner | Jennie Formby (1991-????) Paula Lace |
Leonard David "Len" McCluskey (born 23 July 1950) is a British trade unionist who is General Secretary of Unite the Union. He previously spent some years working on the Liverpool Docks prior to becoming a full-time union official.
McCluskey was born in Liverpool and went to the Cardinal Godfrey School in Everton. After leaving school as a teenager, he went to work for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company and remained there for the next 11 years.
McCluskey first became a trade unionist in 1968, while working on the docks. He became a shop steward a year later, aged 19, and joined the Labour Party in 1970. He became an officer of the TGWU in Merseyside in 1979 and was its campaign organiser throughout the 1980s, during which he supported Militant tendency, but was not a member of it.
McCluskey was elected as the National Secretary of the TGWU General Workers Group in 1990, and moved to London to work in the union's national headquarters. In 2004 he became the TGWU's national organiser for the service industries.
In 2007, he was appointed as the Assistant General Secretary for Industrial Strategy of the newly merged Unite the Union. He defines himself as being on the left of the union, and has been given the label of "Red Len" in the British press because of his involvement in Unite's dispute with British Airways.
In 2010, McCluskey stood for in a one term election as General Secretary of Unite to replace joint-General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, who had both announced their retirement. He said he would serve one term: "I will be able to take some of the difficult decisions that need to be taken without worrying about re-election." On 21 November 2010, it was announced that McCluskey had won the election. He was elected with the following results:
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