Len McCluskey says Jeremy Corbyn ‘changed the face of British politics forever’

General Secretary of Unite Len McCluskey. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA. - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

Len McCluskey has claimed that Jeremy Corbyn ‘changed the face of British politics forever’, as his Unite union prepared to debate who it would back in the Labour leadership contest.

McCluskey, the general secretary and an ally of the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, told reporters before a meeting of the union’s executive: “What Jeremy did four years ago, he probably changed British politics forever, and I think he probably changed the Labour Party.”

He continued: “We now have a clear alternative to a Conservative austerity government, a government that actually governs for the rich, as opposed to the rest of the people.

“What Jeremy Corbyn has done with Labour, and that’s his legacy, is create this alternative. And I think that’s the right thing to do, people have a clear choice”.

MORE: Sir Keir Starmer forced to pause Labour leadership campaign

It suggests that McCluskey is likely to give a nod to the ‘continuity candidate’ in the leadership race in the form of Rebecca Long-Bailey.

Each of the candidates will be given a 25 minute grilling at the meeting of the executive, with the exception of Keir Starmer who will send a replacement, before the union gives its verdict on who it is backing at around 6pm this evening.