Responding to the election results Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The writing is on the wall for this Labour government and it could be the beginning of the end for the party itself. The working class have been abandoned and have delivered their verdict.

“They have painted the ballot boxes of our towns and swathes of the Midlands and the North turquoise and even green. They have done so using the brush of decades of Labour failure.

“Labour ministers can loyally read out lists of their achievements, but no one is listening. If every one of those achievements were in stereo, they wouldn’t even touch the sides of the vision that is needed now.

“We are stuck in a rigged system where everyday people always, always pay. 

“Only fundamental, irreversible change will stem the tide. If the party does not shift decisively towards the working class it is finished.

“It is change or die. Now or never.”

ENDS

Notes to editors: For media enquiries ONLY please contact Unite senior communications advisor Barckley Sumner on 07802 329235