Along with Unison, Unite is one of the two largest trade unions in the UK, with over 1.2 million members in construction, manufacturing, transport, logistics and other sectors.

Unite's assistant general secretary, Len McCluskey, said that some members had been suspended for being friends on Facebook with other attendants being investigated.

[15] The High Court of Justice granted an injunction against the strike on the basis that Unite had not informed its members about the number of spoilt ballots in a previous dispute.

[22] The Labour Party later announced an election proposal to raise the shareholder majority required to approve a takeover to two-thirds, which Unite had lobbied for.

[27] Due to the controversy this caused within the union, members voted in favour of new measures designed to limit future payments on departure in a policy conference in 2012.

[30] In the wake of cuts to public spending made by the Cameron–Clegg coalition, McCluskey threatened strike action to disrupt the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

[31] Also in protest against cuts, Unite supported a successful motion at the Trades Union Congress in 2012 to consider holding a general strike.

[32] In 2013, leaked documents alleged that Unite was running a covert campaign to ensure its candidates were selected to represent the Labour Party in the 2015 general election.

[41] In September 2021, Unite put forward a motion at the Labour Party conference calling for a £15 an hour minimum wage.

[42] The union joined postal workers strikes in 2022 after members at Royal Mail voted for industrial action over pay and job cuts.

Graham ordered two independent inquiries, one led by a Queen's Counsel, which was expected to report by the end of March 2022, and another by the accounting firm Grant Thornton.

[44][45][46][47] In April 2022, a raid was conducted by HM Revenue and Customs and South Wales police on Unite offices to investigate allegations of bribery, fraud, and money laundering related to the project.

[48] As of December 2022, the contents of both inquiries has not been released, as Unite has referred the matter to the police citing "very serious concerns about potential criminality".

Other candidates included two regional secretaries, Laurence Faircloth and Kevin Coyne, and a national officer, Paul Reuter.

The union's assistant general secretary, McCluskey, announced that he would stand as a candidate, running on a platform of unification and staying for only a single term of office.

In December 2016, the incumbent general secretary Len McCluskey announced his resignation in order to contest an election for the post, which was held in April 2017.

Coyne, a member of the Unite Now faction,[citation needed] was widely viewed as a centre-left figure within the union, has a close relationship with the Labour Party and had the backing of the deputy leader Tom Watson.

[56] Concerns were expressed about breaches of data protection law during the campaign, leading to Unite's assistant general secretary for legal affairs producing a report on the allegations.

[55][57][58] Coyne was suspended from his position as West Midlands general secretary by the union on 20 April, after voting had finished, the day ballot counting began.

[61] In December 2017 it was announced that Jeffrey Burke, an employment law specialist and a retired high court judge, has been appointed to examine both sides of the case by the Trades Union Certification Officer.

[65] The United Left faction held a primary to decide which candidate to support in the election, considering two assistant general secretaries: Howard Beckett and Steve Turner.

A new group, Workers' Unite, is expected to support her on a platform more focused on workplaces than internal Labour Party politics.

[66][71] The election was called in April 2021, with nominations closing in June, voting held in July and the result announced on 26 August.

The change was criticised as a "stitch-up" by critics of McCluskey, because it gave more power to union officials who had sole discretion to request nomination packs for newly-created branches.

Not aligned to any political section of the union it has grown in influence within lay activist ranks, officers and key manufacturing sectors of Unite.