The NEC had to complete business in under four hours because the general secretary interviews were scheduled for 2:30 p.m. This was achieved, but only by skipping questions to Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson and merely noting most of the reports and subcommittee minutes. As usual we began with obituaries, including Stephen Hawking, a lifelong […]

The main NEC subcommittees all meet on the same day, to save on travel and time off work. On 6 March we began with a subgroup of women members, charged with finalising arrangements for this year’s women’s conference. This will be on Saturday 22 September, immediately before annual conference, and we agreed, again, that each […]

This report is not entirely about the NPF (national policy forum) meeting in Leeds, but the meeting was not entirely about the NPF either.  First, a couple of background items: Nailing the Lies Momentum claim that I was responsible for excluding 120,000 members from the 2016 leadership election.  This is false.  The first vote at […]

Hopes of shorter meetings this year were dashed, and even without a report from deputy leader Tom Watson we continued for more than seven hours. When I joined the NEC in 2000 many papers were tabled on the day, and we had to arrive early to check them for surprises. General secretary Iain McNicol now […]

The NEC met in Glasgow, welcomed by the new Scottish leader Richard Leonard. After a reception on Saturday evening hosted by Unite we convened at 9 a.m. on Sunday, and congratulated Paddy Lillis on his election as general secretary of USDAW. The membership of NEC committees and policy commissions was agreed. I will continue serving […]

The main NEC subcommittees met on Tuesday 31 October 2017, starting at 11 a.m. and running through to 5 p.m. With a four-month gap since the previous meetings in July there was much to discuss, and now that most members attend they have become, in effect, a mini-NEC.  Below are some of the main issues covered. […]

NEC Meeting, Friday 22 September 2017 The NEC met on the eve of conference and looked forward to the week ahead. Of the delegates initially excluded by the cutoff date of 23 June, 43 of the 61 were able to attend. The floor space was packed, and many ex officio attenders including councillors and MPs […]

Glenis Willmott is coming to the end of her year as Chair, and after another six-hour meeting I am sure she is looking forward to handing on the gavel. She wished Kezia Dugdale well for her future, welcomed Alex Rowley, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, and joined all NEC members in mourning the loss […]

The NEC met in unexpectedly good spirits. As one speaker said, we may have lost the election but we certainly won the campaign. From staring into the abyss on 18 April, through 4 May when we lost nearly 400 councillors and trailed by 11% in the national vote, to removing the Tory majority five weeks […]

Thursday’s results surprised the pollsters, the media and almost everyone really, including me. I complained about local members being directed to Reading East because there was no hope of overturning a Tory majority of 6,520. In fact Labour won, and Matt Rodda is the new MP! So congratulations to returning and newly-elected MPs and thanks […]