New union boss facing calls to 'open up' finances

Sharon Graham became the first women to lead the powerful union after springing an upset to win the election to succeed Len McCluskey.

However, turnout is believed to have been around 12 per cent after fewer than 124,000 eligible members voted in the contest.

Former West Midlands regional secretary Gerard Coyne, who came third in the contest, said it was vital that more members were engaged in "our democracy" and voted in future elections.

He said greater scrutiny of how the union's £200 million annual budget is spent would reassure members and "drive up" turnout.

Unite has been embroiled in a number of spending scandals in recent years, and is facing calls for an inquiry after ploughing almost £100m of members' money on building a hotel and conference centre in Birmingham.

Mr Coyne, from West Bromwich, said: "Sharon has promised to stop Unite meddling in the Labour Party, to focus on workplace issues and to give members better value for their money. Those are all priorities I have long campaigned for.

"To achieve them, she will need to open up Unite’s £200m annual spending to proper scrutiny and accountability, and engage more of the members in our democracy.

"This will help drive up turnout in future elections, and that is something all those in our union movement should be fighting for."

The election took place amid claims that Unite members were losing faith in its leadership and had become detached from the democratic process.

Turnout was slightly higher than the last contest in 2017, when 12.2 per cent of members (130,071) voted. In that election Mr McCluskey narrowly edged out Mr Coyne.