Parliament and Politics: Usdaw vote gives certain victory to 'dream ticket'

LABOUR'S 'dream ticket' yesterday was assured of victory when the shopworkers' union Usdaw decided to throw its weight behind John Smith for party leader and Margaret Beckett as deputy.

The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union is expected to announce its decision today, giving the Smith/Beckett team a likely triumph in the first ballot at the electoral college on Saturday. Mr Smith was already certain of the top job and recent returns from unions which hold 40 per cent of the vote, together with MPs and constituencies which share the rest, probably mean that Mrs Beckett will win in the first round of voting.

The MSF manufacturing union yesterday revealed that its branch ballots had decided in favour of Mr Smith as leader and John Prescott, Opposition transport spokesman, as the number two. It is unlikely that the MSF will make any appreciable difference to the final result, but it will mean that Mr Prescott will make a strong showing in the battle for the post as deputy.

The party's biggest affiliates, the Transport and General Workers' Union and the GMB general union, have already declared in favour of the 'dream ticket'.

Mr Smith polled more than 76,000 votes among Usdaw members, easily beating Bryan Gould, his only rival for the post of party leader, who had fewer than 10,000.

The result of locally organised voting in the deputy leadership race was closer, with Mrs Beckett securing 40,800, compared with John Prescott's 32,000 and Mr Gould's 13,900.

The latest vote follows a survey by the BBC 1 television programme On The Record indicating that Mr Smith will storm home with an unprecedented 91 per cent share of the vote, leaving Mr Gould facing humiliation both in this contest and that for the deputy leadership.

Mrs Beckett, shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is on course to win the deputy leadership outright, with Mr Gould behind John Prescott.

The survey, among 155 constituencies, showed 152 (98 per cent) supported Mr Smith and only 3 (2 per cent) backed Mr Gould.

Calculations for the deputy leadership show Mrs Beckett will secure 65 per cent, Mr Prescott, shadow Secretary of State for Transport, 19 per cent, and Mr Gould 16 per cent, thus making a second ballot necessary.