Corbyn brings in former Stop the War chief for Labour campaign effort

Jeremy Corbyn has brought in a high-profile senior aide to Len McCluskey to help fire up Labour’s campaign for the final weeks of the election.

He has hired Andrew Murray, chief of staff at Unite, to join Labour’s campaign team.

Murray, a former chair of the Stop the War coalition, is described as a former Communist who has recently joined the Labour Party.

He has been a prominent figure on the left for more than 15 years due to his role with Stop the War, which was set up in 2001 and was also chaired by Corbyn for a spell, before he became Labour leader.

Murray’s role is understood to be aimed at improving co-ordination both within the leader’s team and between it and the rest of the party’s organisation, the Huffington Post reported today.

Sources confirmed Murray had been brought in for a secondment but said he was supporting rather than heading Labour’s general election campaign.

A spokeswoman for the Labour Party said they did not comment on staffing members.

Unite is a significant donor to the Labour Party. McCluskey was re-elected as general secretary last month.