Wendy Nichols elected vice-chair of Labour’s NEC

Today Wendy Nichols was elected vice-chair of Labour’s ruling body.

Nichols, who currently represents Unison on the national executive committee, beat TSSA’s Andi Fox by 18 votes to 17.

The Unison rep will replace Jennie Formby, now general secretary of the Labour Party, as the NEC’s vice-chair.

A Labour source says incumbent NEC chair Kerr and Momentum’s Jon Lansman, sitting on the committee as a local party representative, delayed the vote so that Jeremy Corbyn could dial in and vote for Andi Fox.

Corbyn’s vote was not enough to swing it, however. The result will be seen as a victory for the Corbynsceptic wing of the party, although Nichols supports the Labour leader.

Some on the Left have criticised the GMB and Richard Leonard (former GMB organiser) for backing Nichols over Fox.

Angela Rayner tweeted her congratulations:

Congratulations to my former @unisontweets colleague Wendy Nichols who has been elected vice-chair of Labour National Executive Committee. I once again look forward to working with you 👍

— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) May 22, 2018