Jennie Formby and Christine Blower shortlisted for general secretary post

Jennie Formby and Christine Blower have been shortlisted for the post of Labour’s general secretary.

The long list of five – Jennie Formby, Christine Blower, Paul Hilder, Byron Taylor and David Sayer – has been cut down to two applicants.

The result guarantees that the party’s next general secretary will be a woman – for only the second time in Labour history.

As reported by LabourList earlier today, Christine Blower is a former general secretary of the National Union of Teachers who joined the Labour Party as recently as 2016.

She stood as a London Socialist Alliance candidate in the 2000 London Assembly elections.

Jennie Formby, the former Unite political director who is thought to have the backing of the leader’s office, is considered the favourite to secure the role.

Formby wrote exclusively for LabourList on International Women’s Day this year about her experiences as a female trade unionist, and how the labour movement can do better.