NB a pdf version of this report is here. The first NEC meeting after conference always sets the party’s direction for the year ahead. With the chancellor’s highly political autumn statement and hints of an early budget in February, speculation about a May election was rising. There might only be one more normal meeting before moving […]
A pdf version of this report is here. NEC at Conference, Liverpool, 7/11 October 2023 The horrors unfolding in the Middle East overshadowed all else and in comparison internal party manoeuvrings seem insignificant, whether points of order about motions or the “Moderates” gloating over defeats for the “Hard Left”. Nevertheless for the record I have […]
NB a pdf version of this report is here. NEC members gathered in Glasgow and spent the morning campaigning for Michael Shanks in the Rutherglen & Hamilton West by-election before the formal meeting in the afternoon. Unfortunately there were technical glitches and those joining remotely could not hear all the discussion, reinforcing my view that […]
NB a pdf version of this report is available here. NEC members gathered after an exhausting week, with by-elections followed by the national policy forum in Nottingham, and thanked candidates, activists and staff for their phenomenal efforts. Warm tributes were paid to former general secretary Margaret McDonagh, Glenda Jackson and Bob Kerslake. Forde Continued The […]
NB a pdf version of this report is available here. The national policy forum (NPF) last gathered to finalise a manifesto platform in 2014. Since then we had lived through three more lost elections, the Brexit referendum, three leadership elections and much internal upheaval, while the Tories steadily dismantled our legacy. At last there were […]
NB this report is available as a pdf here. The next full NEC meeting is on Tuesday 25 July. Before then, here are some notes from other committee and subcommittee meetings in June and July. National Women’s Committee, 13 June 2023 Anneliese Dodds, shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, spoke and responded to […]
NB a pdf version of this report is available here. The committee is still meeting online, partly because London is the only practicable location and we can no longer use the national HQ. The new south-east office will be in Rochester, but regional director Teddy Ryan stressed that staff will be out in the marginals, […]
NB this report is available as a pdf here The NEC met in cheerful mood after the most successful local elections in England since 2002. Labour is the largest group in local government for the first time since 2014 and congratulations were expressed to Shaun Davies on his election as chair of the local government […]
NB this report is available as a pdf here The meeting opened by paying tribute to former MP Janet Anderson and long-serving organiser Eddie Lopez before moving on to debate a motion from Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood on Jeremy Corbyn’s future. The text is here. Words and Meanings My first reaction was that the […]
The NEC met in the new headquarters at 160 Blackfriars Road, further from Westminster but more spacious. After technical problems were resolved we began with a minute’s silence to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. We then paid tribute to Brenda Etchells, trade unionist and past NEC chair, and former Labour MP Alice Mahon. Although from different […]