LEN McCLUSKEY finished well ahead of the pack as nominations closed in Unite’s general secretary election yesterday.

The incumbent received 1,185 branch endorsements, covering 559,000 Unite members.

Unite West Midlands secretary Gerard Coyne, a right-wing challenger who has criticised the union’s support for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was nominated by 187 branches. Fujitsu rep Ian Allinson, a member of Trotskyist group rs21, got 76 nominations.

Now all three candidates will go forward to a one member, one vote ballot with papers due to be sent out from March 27. The ballot will close on April 19.

Unite said it was the largest number of nominations made in the union’s history. “The very strong level of participation is good for our democracy and I would urge all Unite members to take the chance to vote when ballot papers are distributed later this month,” Unite acting general secretary Gail Cartmail said.

Mr McCluskey said: “This incredible level of backing is a vindication of what our great union has achieved for working people under my leadership.

“It is also a rejection of the cynical approach of one opponent, which is not to offer a positive vision for our union but to taint it with smears and do the bidding of meddlers from outside who would rather destroy Unite than see it provide strength and hope for working people.”

A spokesman for Mr Coyne said: “The number of nominations each candidate received is no guide to the eventual result.

“Gerard Coyne is appealing to the mass of Unite members who are not part of the McCluskey machine.”