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Keir Starmer has received a fresh boost to his leadership after Labour’s ruling body appointed his preferred candidate to be the party’s new general secretary.
David Evans, a former party official under Tony Blair, will succeed Jenny Formby in the top post, the National Executive Committee (NEC) decided on Tuesday.
Evans, who was an assistant general secretary until 2001, came ahead of nearest rival, the trade unionist Byron Taylor, after a lengthy interviewing session.
The move marks another significant break with the Jeremy Corbyn era and underlines Starmer’s determination to replace internal factional rows with a focus on turning the party’s HQ into an election-winning machine.
Starmer made plain earlier this month that he wanted to “move on” from his predecessor’s tenure, revealing that Formby left the job by “mutual consent”.
The narrow vote by 20 votes - just over half of the 38-strong NEC - highlighted the slender pro-Starmer majority on the ruling body.
Insiders said that the crucial two votes of the GMB union proved decisive. However, the Welsh Labour representative, Mick Anoniw, is understood to have voted against Evans.
Evans said: “We face a defining period in the history of our great party, with a global pandemic, an imminent recession and a mountain to climb to win the next election. Through the strength of our movement, I know we can rise to this challenge.”
Starmer added: “He brings a wealth of experience to this crucial role and a clear understanding of the scale of the task ahead of us.”
The NEC is due to meet next month for a special meeting on fresh elections of local constituency reps, with a move towards single transferable vote (STV) elections expected to embed the Labour leader’s ‘moderate’ supporters.
Evans was a regional secretary in the North West in the 1990s and then assistant general secretary for two years, before leaving set up his own consultancy firm, The Campaign Company.
He had upset some leftwingers with a paper he produced under Blair in which he called for a “radical overhaul” of the party to “excite and enthuse our own membership”.
“Done correctly, it will empower modernising forces within the party and marginalise Old Labour,” he had written, when arguing for a shake-up of local constituency parties and more power given to members.
The battle to become Starmer’s general secrertary has been fraught with intringue for weeks. Former party official Emilie Oldknow was a contender until a leaked anti-Semitism report listed her scathing views of Corbyn.
Lisa Johnson of the GMB union was another fancied candidate until her union was plunged into a crisis of its own by the resignation of general secretary Tim Roache amid allegations about his private conduct.
Unite’s Anneliese Midgley, another possible front-runner, opted not to apply for the post last week but was swiftly appointed as Starmer’s senior adviser.
The final shortlist for the job included former Corbyn policy chief Andrew Fisher, former MEP Neena Gill, former Cooperative Party chief Karin Christiansen and ex-teachers’ union president Amanda Martin.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard was in Holyrood and did not take part in the Zoom video meeting of the NEC.
One NEC member told HuffPost that Welsh Labour rep Antonwiw, who is a member of the Welsh Assembly, had made a mistake in not backing Evans./
“He has yet to vote in support of the Labour leader. It’s very damaging for the relationship between the UK party and Wales - especially as he’s effectively voting against the Welsh membership.”
But one Left NEC source echoed concerns of FBU general secretary Matt Wrack, who had warned Evans’ appointment could be divisive.
The NEC source said: “Keir urged NEC members to vote for David Evans. If Evans now takes us back to the toxic culture in HQ, purges of left-wing members and stitch ups of parliamentary selections exposed in the leaked report, his appointment will be the worst mistake of Keir’s leadership.
“Keir and Angela both stood on election platforms promising to unite the party. Members won’t forgive them if they allow a hard-right General Secretary to wage factional warfare against the Left.
“They are responsible for making sure Evans fulfils their election promise to bring our party together, not tear it apart.”
Another Corbyn-era official, London regional director Hazel Flynn, is understood to have left her post in recent days.