It was Derek Simpson who uttered the dreaded words “Tory landslide” at this week’s TUC conference in Liverpool. The co-leader of Unite – Britain’s biggest union – said Britain was only eight months away from a Conservative victory unless Labour swung dramatically to the left.

This is the equivalent of telling a difficult 18-year-old that there are monsters under his bed. No unions are planning to cut off funding to Labour – with the possible exception of the CWU. It seems unfeasible that Gordon Brown will be scared into a leftwards lurch. If anything, the prospect of a Tory government seems to be cementing union loyalties.

Simpson had a stern warning for Bob Crow, leader of the non-affiliated RMT union, urging him not to follow through with his threat to start a new socialist party. This would simply make a Tory victory more likely, he said.

The outsider Crow told me his public appearances had been pushed to the back end of the week – as had the RMT’s motions. “Maybe that’s just the way it came out of the hat,” he said sarcastically.

Conspicuous by his apparent absence is Richard Balfe, the man charged with building relations between the Tories and the unions. Curiously, Tory HQ would not even comment on whether Balfe was in Liverpool this week.

There is also no sign of Jerry Hicks. Jerry Who, you might ask. Hicks is a leftwing activist who earlier this year tried to topple Simpson as head of the Amicus branch of Unite. He finished only a few percentage points behind the incumbent and way ahead of expectations.

When the voting starts for a new single head of Unite next year the two mainstream contestants are likely to be Les Bayliss of Amicus and Len McCluskey of the T&G.

They face a strong challenge from Hicks – although he has not yet confirmed his candidacy – who could draw support from both wings of the union. Unlike the others, he would reduce funding to Labour, a move that would have devastating consequences for the party – given that it is by far its biggest donor.

Because of this, he has the potential to be far more influential than you might imagine. His policies include a 90 per cent-plus tax on executive bonuses.