Former Socialist Alliance candidate short-listed to be Labour general secretary
2 min read
A former union boss who once stood as a Socialist Alliance candidate has been short-listed to be Labour's next general secretary.
Christine Blower stood against Labour in the 2000 elections to the Greater London Assembly.
But she has made it to the final two in the race to succeed Iain McNicol as the party's general secretary alongside Jennie Formby.
Labour's national executive committee will choose the winner when it meets on 20 March.
Ms Blower's London Socialist Alliance grouping were a loose coalition of the Socialist Workers Party, Workers Power and the Communist Party of Great Britain and polled 1.6% of the total vote.
At the time, she said the movement "was formed to prevent disillusionment with Labour giving a new birth to the far right as it did in the 1970s".
Ms Blower was also general secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 2009 until 2016.
Unite official Ms Formby, who is backed by Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and other senior Labour figures, is the clear favourite to win next week.
Her main rival for the post, Momentum boss Jon Lansman, withdrew from the race last Sunday.
Ms Formby is a long-standing member of Labour's NEC, but is seen as a divisive figure by many in the party.
Announcing her decision to stand two weeks ago, she said she wanted to help the party "grasp the historic opportunity" to install Jeremy Corbyn in 10 Downing Street.
"The general secretary of the party needs to be someone who can build on that unity to mobilise and organise the entire party and the wider labour movement behind a Labour victory at the next general election whenever this callous and crumbling government decides to call it," she said.
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