Unions in chaos over role in vote for new Labour leader

Labour’s affiliated trades unions look pretty bewildered today over what role they’ll play in the election of a new Labour leader.

Constitutionally, there’s no longer an electoral college in which trade unions play a big part, as they famously have done in leadership elections over the last 35 years.

But union members could still play a decisive role in the contest.  I stress the word “could”.

The level of trade union involvement could be determined by when exactly the contest is held. especially after 2010 when Ed Miliband secured his election through union members outvoting MPs and ordinary members.

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