Former Unite general secretary Tony Woodley has become a Labour member of the House of Lords – just weeks after he said he was turning down a peerage.
Lord Woodley, who was the first joint leader of Britain’s second largest trade union, will be formally introduced in a ceremony on November 17, party sources told HuffPost UK.
A close ally of Gordon Brown’s during the last Labour government, the Merseyside-born union official had been nominated by Jeremy Corbyn for a seat in the Lords but had turned down the honour as recently as August.
Woodley, who had previously ruled out a similar move in 2018, had said that while he was “deeply honoured” by the nomination by Corbyn and party chair Ian Lavery, he had decided to follow the example of his predecessor Jack Jones in rejecting the move.
But on Monday the House of Lords website listed him as having accepted the peerage, which follows the issue of a writ of summons.
In a new statement, Woodley singled out former PM Brown as key to his decision.
“I was proud to be recommended for a peerage by Jeremy Corbyn but some weeks ago I announced that I had decided I would prefer to remain a campaigner for working people from outside the House of Lords.
“I have been particularly influenced by former Labour premier Gordon Brown, who is now leading the Alliance for Full Employment to help avert the looming disaster of the return of mass unemployment, particularly among the young.
“There could not be a cause closer to my heart and if I can help Gordon and Labour from within the Lords then I feel I have an obligation to do so.
“I know that this change of heart will disappoint those who reject peerages on principle, but those who know me will be assured that wherever I am on whatever title I hold I will always put the interests of working people first, as I have done all my life.”
Bill Morris, Woodley’s immediate predecessor at the T&G union, which merged with Amicus to form Unite, has been a peer since 2006. Other trade union general secretaries also help make up the Labour benches in the Lords.
Woodley was one of several peerage nominations submitted by Corbyn as part of his duties as outgoing Labour leader after the 2019 general election.
In August, he issued a statement that read: “After the most careful reflection I have decided not to accept the peerage offered.
“The greatest honour of my life was to be elected general secretary of the historic Transport & General Workers Union [now part of Unite] by my fellow members.
“So I would prefer to follow the example of my hero and mentor Jack Jones, the greatest man to hold that job, and not accept a peerage.
“I will do whatever I can to advance Labour’s cause in the future, but I have determined that I will do it best as I did when I was first elected a union representative more than 50 years ago, as plain Tony Woodley.”
In 2018, he was on a longlist drafted by Corbyn for a peerage, but a Unite spokesperson said at the time he had “not sought a peerage and won’t accept a peerage”.
Others who have accepted them include Sue Hayman, who lost her Workington parliamentary seat in last year’s general election, professor Prem Sikka, pensions expert Bryn Davies and ex-Corbyn aide Katy Clark.
Corbyn had also nominated his former deputy Tom Watson, ex-Speaker John Bercow and staffer Karie Murphy, but each was rejected by the House of Lords appointment commission.