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The leader of Britain's largest trade union says she can understand why voters are turning away from Labour - because the cost of living has either "stagnated or it's got worse" since the party came to power.

Christina McAnea, who is running again to be leader of Unison, representing 1.3 million largely public-sector workers, told Byline Times: "People are really disappointed about what's happened since Labour came in, because there was a high expectation that they would come in and somehow life would get better. But if you look at what's happening to the cost of living, it's pretty much stagnated, or it's got worse."

She noted that housing, energy and food costs have "not stopped going up."

"People aren't feeling that anything that the Government has done has made their life better. You can understand why they'll turn to alternative parties that can make easy promises without actually having to deliver," McAnea said. "Until Labour can turn [the cost of living] around, they'll continue to look for an alternative."

However, voters would come up against the "reality that Reform doesn't have any answers."

"They get away with murder in the media…They don't seem to get much scrutiny or challenge. They're allowed to say whatever they like, and nobody challenges them. [They claim] 'we're going to save hundreds of thousands of pounds in local government in these 10 councils.' No, you're not. It's a total lie. You haven't saved anything," the union leader said.

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McAnea is widely seen as being close to Keir Starmer, and her support for the Government has spurred an insurgent campaign against her by opponent Andrea Egan, a Bolton-based social worker.

But McAnea hit back at those claims in an interview with this outlet, saying: "I could go into meetings with Government ministers and come out and put out a press release saying, "This is shocking. We're not getting what we want," and it would please Andrea's faction, and it would probably get me a headline and get me in the news. Would it help the members? Probably not."

She said she was making headway with ministers, pushing hard for progressive changes, including in the Budget on November 26th.

"We've been pushing very hard for things like a 10% tax on the profits the banks make. We're pushing to see that they bring in a tax on people who have assets of more than £5 million…

"I'm not underestimating the difficulties facing [the Government]. Quite frankly, I'd hate to be Rachel Reeves at this point in time, but I would love to see them being a bit brave and bold."

Asked about rumours of a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer, she added: "Nobody's contacted me who wants to stand against Keir Starmer…If it's happening, I am not aware of it. I'm sure there's lots of machinations going on behind the scenes, but…nobody's coming to us about it."

The fundamental point for her, however, is this: "Divided parties don't win elections."

The Scottish trade unionist also expressed frustration with the Government not communicating some of the popular policies they are pushing through - such as the Employment Rights Bill, which is set to transform workers' rights in the UK and reverse a raft of anti-union laws.

"I think they need to perhaps have a proper communication strategy with it…It is a huge improvement on workers' rights."

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