An article by Andrew Gilligan in today’s Sunday Telegraph mentions Labour PCC candidates’ support by UNISON. It quotes the union’s Yorkshire and Humberside regional officer, Chris Jenkinson as saying:
We are supporting them because it is extremely important we have strong representation at the highest level.
“Strong representation at the highest level”? Is the idea that these PCC candidates then reciprocate UNISON’s support upon election, and support UNISON in some way?
The article explicitly mentions three Labour candidates – in Humberside, South Yorkshire and in West Yorkshire. It appears that these three are supported by the union’s Yorkshire and Humberside branch. There is no information on which Labour candidates are supported by other UNISON branches.
Spot on comment at the end of the article by Sam Chapman, who runs the excellent Top of the Cops website:
It doesn’t feel right – you’re going to have to make decisions about…
View original post 142 more words
TopOfTheCops.com 
Union support is only to be expected for Labour candidates but will almost certainly bring conflict of interests for those PCCs. This underscores the need for integrity as a key factor for selection. Once in post, it will be important to see where all PCCS have secured financial and other support for their campaigns, but by then it will be too late!