Andrea Egan, leader of the UK’s biggest union Unison, has warned Labour needs to “change course” or risk paving the way for Reform to take over in power.
Ahead of Unison’s annual conference in Brighton, which starts on Tuesday, she said the Government needed to “deliver on promises” to ward off the threat of Nigel Farage’s party.
She told the BBC: “When Labour came into power there was a sense of relief. But sadly we’ve been left wanting. Communities are really struggling.
“It isn’t us that will hand the keys to No10 to Reform – it’s them, unless they change course. And drastically.
“They’ve got to start introducing progressive policies. Investment in infrastructure, pay restoration, better services, insourcing.
“They need to ensure that they deliver on promises they made when they came into government.”
Ms Egan was elected general secretary of Unison in December 2025 having pledged to launch a review of the union’s relationship with Labour.
She was expelled from Labour in 2022 for sharing articles from Socialist Appeal, a group that was proscribed by the party – a decision she appealed during the campaign.
Warning that Reform would “attack pensions and protections in the workplace”, Ms Egan said Your Party – set up by former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana – offered an opportunity to “give Labour a warning” about the need to change.
“I feel really sad that that warning is being delivered now by Reform,” she said.
