Leaked contract shows Unite 'ghost worker' offered £50k

One of the country's biggest unions and a leading donor to the Labour party is being investigated by its regulator as it faces claims it might have offered a £50,000-a-year "ghost job" to an airport baggage handler to rig an election.

- Jon Ungoed-Thomas & Jonathan Lewis

The baggage handler withdrew from Unite's executive council election in 2023 after he was offered the five-day-a-week union post, on top of his full-time job at Heathrow. The union has said it was "categorically untrue" that the post was phoney.

Allies of Sharon Graham, the general secretary, were allegedly concerned that, if he won, he might oust one of her supporters, The Observer reported last weekend.

The certification officer, the official who regulates unions, said last week an inspector had also been appointed to look at claims the union has failed to keep proper accounting records.