Ironically the election was held as a result of Simpson's manoeuvres to make the path clear for his chosen successor. The previous Yorkshire Regional Secretary, Graham Goddard, is the lucky man chosen by Simpson, being appointed Deputy General Secretary of the union, and then moved to become North West Regional Secretary. This had the advantage for him because he would be boss of a larger region, useful for the General Secretary election in 2 or 3 years time.

As part of his plans Simpson's allies took over the Amicus broad left group, Amicus Unity Gazette, in February 2006 to make sure all the bases were covered. However, the plans of mice and Simpson came adrift when Chris Weldon, a national political officer based in Sheffield, lost 11,173 to 8.174 - a substantial blow. This is all the more surprising since Yorkshire was Simpson's original power base in the union.

Does the result show brother Simpson's hold is weakening within Amicus? If so what will this mean in the context of the new union formed by the merger of Amicus and the T&G?