CHRISTINA McANEA has been general secretary of Unison for the past three years. I know because I was there and got roundly defeated in the election for the post.

This was my first opportunity to sit with my former colleague since her election to discuss the challenges facing Unison, including, of course, the general election.

We managed to grab some time at the end of the union’s national delegate conference in Brighton last week.

“It’s been a really positive week. Lots of people are really looking forward to the general election and a change from this Tory government.

“There were probably not that many Tories sitting in that hall but who knows and there might well be people from different nations who might be voting in different ways.

“But the big point I have been trying to make is that this is about making sure we have a Labour government in Westminster.”

She added: “After 14 years of the Tories we absolutely need a Labour government in Westminster.”

Responding to the criticisms from some in the union about Labour she told me “we are not going to like everything that they do but what’s the alternative?

“I feel that we have managed to get quite a lot from Labour in the manifesto. Things like the national care service and what happens to care workers.”

She said that in her previous role as an assistant general secretary in the union she was working every day during most of the Covid 19 lockdown dealing with issues around care and health.

“Most of the calls into our helpline were queries from care workers. At one point around 90 per cent of queries were from care workers.

“I was really conscious that care workers had basically been abandoned. Left with nothing.

“At least in the NHS there was a kind of structure so if things go wrong there is a chain of hierarchy you can go back to. But in care there is next to nothing.

“That entrenched for me the need to have a proper care service and to look after and do something for the staff who work in it.”

She added: “It’s become a bit of a passion for me and I have been pushing it ever since I became general secretary.”

We talked about the dysfunction of the current care service and how seriously the conference addressed the issue.

On a note of caution McAnea said: “Reform is going to be difficult as there is just no capacity in the NHS.

“Also most of the service is delivered in the private and voluntary sector so you can’t turn it overnight into something that’s a publicly delivered care service. That will take time.

“My ambition is that we do have something that is similar to the NHS but I think we are going to need at least two terms of a Labour government to see that fully functioning.”

She added that she was pleased that Labour had given the commitment to creating the service and that even if the process took some time we can still start the work on a fair pay agreement for care workers.

“In fact we have already started that work in Unison so if Labour gets elected we will push for an early meeting with the new government to get that work moving,“ she said.

What are some of the other priorities that an incoming Labour government needs to face up to from Unison’s point of view?

“Local government funding is going to be right up there with the NHS. One in five council leaders say they are going to be bankrupt in 15 months,” she told me.

“They are going to have to deal with that by the end of the year. It’s in a total mess so we will be pushing Labour hard on local government funding.”

We talked about the cuts taking place in Birmingham and the hefty salaries that consultants were commanding to come in and slash services.

McAnea said: “The people of Birmingham have been treated appallingly by the Tories.

“The evidence is there to show that councils with more deprived areas have been starved of funding by the Tories and Labour needs to do something about that.”

Unison wants to work with elected councillors and the groups that represent the community and the workforce to look at long-term solutions to the funding crisis caused by the Tories.

“We will do everything that we can to support our members regardless of what action they want to take” to safeguard jobs and services.

She added that the other thing she was hoping for was a change in the culture.

McAnea said that the Tories had presided over a “toxic culture,” accusing them of demonising sections of the community such as trans people and migrants.

“This whole thing about woke culture. What is it anyway? To me it’s about doing the right thing and not victimising people and not discriminating against people. That’s not about being woke. That’s about being right.”

She hopes a Labour government would bring about a shift in the cultural tone in the country and the way people are treated.

Unison conference was very clear in its support for the Palestinian cause in the wake of the Israeli assault in Gaza.

McAnea visited the West Bank just a few weeks ago. She has been a long-time supporter of the Palestinians.

“But going there and meeting people and talking to public-sector workers was just amazing to hear their stories and just how difficult it was to get on with their everyday lives.

“I’m absolutely determined to use whatever power we have as a union to push an incoming Labour government to recognise Palestine as a state as soon as possible.

“That’s a commitment I’ve given to the Palestinian ambassador to Britain and one I’m committed to following through.”

Unison will clearly face major challenges with whoever is elected in Westminster. Whichever party wins Unison seems set to push for a radical reform of the way that social care is delivered.

It’s clear that the Tories don’t care about social care but, even with all the difficulties of getting Labour to deliver, there is a determination to make a difference for the thousands of care workers across the country.