The first meeting after conference is always a long session, planning for the challenges ahead. Overall objectives were to develop Labour as a campaigning movement, achieve real change, build trust in communities, and win elections at all levels. Each department would contribute, with strategic leadership on policy, effective opposition to the government, and world-class integrated […]
Events have been moving fast since the excitement of the leadership contest and the September NEC meeting, and below is an update on recent developments. On 17 November the NEC will consider plans to consult on party reform, and I would welcome your thoughts in advance. Women’s Conference, Brighton, Saturday 26 September 2015 More than […]
NEC meetings have their own familiar rituals, and though the world may have changed, the routine remained the same. Members welcomed the return of Dennis Skinner, replacing John Healey who is now in the shadow cabinet, and congratulated Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson on their election as leader and deputy leader. Both addressed the NEC […]
Interim leader Harriet Harman said that we were living through turbulent times, and she was under no illusions about the scale of the challenge. Labour had to listen to the country and campaign in a spirit of unity and mutual respect. Councillors would provide vital links, particularly in areas with few MPs. She and others […]
Thank you for the hundreds of messages, which I’ve found tremendously useful in giving an idea of where we are as a party, and where we should go next. I collated them into a single document, removing names and details which would identify individuals, and passed it to the Learning the Lessons Taskforce. However it […]
Harriet Harman, as interim leader, reiterated her four priorities: effective opposition; unity and stability; analysis of the results; and electing a new leader and deputy leader. Looking ahead to the Queen’s speech, NEC members were particularly concerned about attacks on the human rights act and on trade union and employment rights, and welcomed her promise […]
This was a special meeting, called to agree procedures for choosing the next leader and deputy leader. The Chair Jim Kennedy welcomed Hilary Benn MP, who replaces Sadiq Khan, and Peter Willsman, returning to the constituency section after Kate Osamor’s election as MP for Edmonton. Rachael Maskell and Conor McGinn are also now MPs, and […]
The NEC congratulated Rachael Maskell, Conor McGinn and Kate Osamor on their selection as parliamentary candidates for York Central, St Helens North and Edmonton. If all goes well and they are elected as MPs on 7 May, this will have been their last NEC meeting. Lucy Powell, vice-chair of Labour’s general election campaign, reported that […]
Ed Miliband was in Manchester launching Labour’s health pledge, so European leader Glenis Willmott MEP gave the opening report. Labour MEPs opposed an increase in the budget because of continuing waste on the common agricultural policy, and were campaigning on violence against women, assistance for disabled people, allegations of corruption against EU officials in Kosovo, […]