Keir Starmer joined from Heathrow where he was supporting Unite members, on strike against plans to fire and rehire them on worse conditions. He stressed the importance of the May elections. With Scotland, Wales, London, councils, mayors, police and crime commissioners, and all the 2020 contests rolled in, this was the biggest test outside a […]
The chair Vince Maple reported on a positive meeting with general secretary David Evans, where he raised the need for more resources in the south-east. A partywide review of staffing was under way, though David acknowledged the importance of replacing our communications officer. Deficiencies in digital systems were being addressed. There was more to do […]
Disputes Panel This was the first meeting of the NEC cycle and Shabana Mahmood was elected as chair, with 18 votes to 11 for Yasmine Dar. Yasmine was thanked for all her work during an exceptionally busy time. Shabana is the fifth person to chair the panel in the last three years. We then heard […]
NEC Women’s Sub-Committee / Equalities Committee, 14 January 2021 Returning after a strange and subdued winter break, these were the first NEC meetings of the New Year. The women’s sub-committee congratulated Christina McAnea on her election as general secretary of UNISON, the first woman to hold the position. The committee moved on to discuss arrangements […]
Two special meetings were held to consider Labour’s response to the EHRC (equality and human rights commission) report on anti-semitism in the party. The equalities committee met on Friday 4 December: together with NEC members this committee is attended by stakeholders from affiliated organisations who bring a wider perspective. The full NEC then met on […]
South East Regional Executive Committee, 25 November 2020 The meeting opened with a presentation from the party’s national Head of Safeguarding. The unit was responsible for protecting children, and also vulnerable adults. There were now up to 10,000 children (aged under 18) in membership. Incidents could occur where there was a potential victim, a perpetrator, […]
Joint Policy Committee, 17 November 2020 This was the first formal meeting I attended, as the returning chair of the national policy forum. The leader Keir Starmer stressed his commitment to democratic policy-making processes. The wealth of knowledge and experience among the membership would help us build a vision for the future of the country, […]
Meeting via Zoom again the chair Vince Maple steered us through the agenda, helped by written reports from most representatives. Instead of a regional conference this autumn there will be a virtual conference during the week beginning Monday 9 November. There will be no votes and no delegates, and all members will be welcome. Acting […]
Regional executive members gathered on Zoom for an informal update. Like local parties we were not able to make decisions, but it was a useful opportunity to catch up and share experiences. Most of us, including myself, expressed frustration on behalf of our members, and when councils, Labour groups and the NEC itself are meeting, […]
This was the first meeting since the general election. Back in September the committee asked the NEC to allow all CLPs to select parliamentary candidates, with a shortened process for non-Labour seats, but sadly we were ignored. Instead the NEC prioritised trigger ballots for sitting MPs. When Labour voted for a December election, 62 south-east […]