NB a pdf version of this report is available here.
The chair Ellie Reeves welcomed members to the first meeting of 2025 and thanked Wendy Nichols for all her work for the party as she leaves for the Lords. John Prescott’s funeral would be held on Thursday, and tributes were paid to long-serving Bury member John Smith and to Peter Kenyon, NEC CLP representative from 2008 to 2010. The NEC were promised a discussion on national women’s conference in March.
General secretary Hollie Ridley gave an update on election preparations, working as a single team across Number 10, parliament and the party in the country. Every staff member had their own objectives and understood their role. Labour won in July because we outspent the Tories, breaking all fundraising records, and maintaining sound finances was essential. On entering government we lost £7.5 million of Short money which supports opposition parties, and donations declined after victory. There were 308,783 paid-up members with a further 21,174 in arrears, 11% down since the election but still double the 158,868 in 2008. After the election staffing numbers were reduced to “peacetime” levels as temporary contracts ended, but without redundancies, and pay and conditions were being negotiated with staff unions. Continuing efforts were needed to fund technological innovation and build campaign capabilities.
Money and Messages
NEC members asked if party mugs could be sourced from British ceramics factories in Stoke, rather than from India. Others agreed with me that members need more frequent policy communications. A quarterly update is not enough. If we can ask for donations every day, we can and must send snappy “why vote Labour” slogans, and rapid rebuttal of enemy attacks, just as often. A recent TikTok video attracted criticism because its AI (artificial intelligence) techniques undermined the work of creative humans, and because it was dire (and yes, I did ask some young people). It has now been withdrawn due to issues with the soundtrack. Apologies to those who haven’t seen it and to those who have. Nevertheless Labour has to learn to use short-form media, to avoid losing younger voters to more savvy opponents. Hollie took all points on board, promised campaign materials which tackle Reform and the Greens, and assured the NEC that keeping candidates safe, especially women and ethnic minority candidates, was a priority for her.
The treasurer Mike Payne reinforced the importance of robust, resilient and sustainable finances, and thanked members and affiliates for their generosity. As well as driving income generation, every penny must be spent wisely. MPs’ representatives suggested that CLPs should take more responsibility for funding local elections, and others reported wide disparities in wealth. I reminded the NEC that CLPs get less than £4 from each membership subscription following changes in 2011, with Contact Creator, election insurance and one conference pass paid centrally. The balance goes into NEC funds for which CLPs can bid, though after 15 years most are still unaware of the system. These processes are under review, and hopefully new bids will be invited soon. Separately, Labour councillors are often the backbone of CLP activities, including funding. Labour is committed to devolving power down from Whitehall, but decisions on council reorganisation will have political and financial implications for local parties.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Report
Angela Rayner summarised progress on devolution, breakfast clubs, more teachers, renters’ rights, rescuing 150,000 children from temporary accommodation, allowing councils to keep right-to-buy receipts, and employment rights. The minimum wage was rising to more than £12 an hour with record increases for younger workers, and other measures would reduce the gender pay gap, raise sick pay entitlement and end fire-and-rehire practices. She thanked the unions for engaging, and gave assurances that she would look to close any loopholes and strengthen collective as well as individual rights. On devolution she was working with councils on the appropriate scale and size of new unitary authorities and mayoralties.
Winning in 2025
Hollie Ridley returned to political strategy for the 2025 elections. These are mainly in rural areas, some of which now have Labour MPs but very few Labour councillors. The Tories were our principal opponents and so Labour must campaign as a force for local change, with candidates as community champions. The previous strategy – use your vote to send a message to government – no longer worked in Labour’s favour. Resources would be targeted for maximum gain, in selected divisions and in building for the next general election. It was noted that some elections may be postponed where new unitaries will be ready by 2026. NEC members called for ambitious twinning plans and clear message discipline.
Resuming Normal Service
The NEC approved a process for lifting CLPs out of special measures. This will involve a full membership audit, checking members against the electoral register and looking at third-party subscription payments and those claiming eligibility for reduced rates. Anyone flagged through this exercise will be asked to legitimise their membership. Where CLPs are also suspended, other issues, such as governance concerns and high volumes of complaints or poor conduct, may need extra attention. I put in a plea on behalf of Stratford & Bow and West Ham & Beckton who have not yet been able to reconstitute themselves along the new 2023 boundaries, share out funds from the former CLPs and resume regular functioning.
The plan is to verify current membership after the May elections, lift special measures and suspensions by November, and continue to monitor new recruitment through system enhancements which identify unusual patterns, for instance 20 identical applications in 15 minutes, in real time. In future, preventive action should avoid the need to impose special measures in the first place. The paper also said that over the summer, existing membership data will be migrated to a new system. I do not know whether there are many changes to the user interface, but expect that CLP officers will be kept informed.
Prime Minister’s Questions
We were joined by Keir Starmer, who highlighted activity since November: the plan for change with its milestones, reducing NHS waiting lists and building 1.5 million homes. The children’s well-being bill would lower the cost of school uniforms and safeguard children against being taken out of school; some of these had been absent since Covid. As in his remarks after the Southport tragedy he worried about young people, mostly male, becoming detached, without particular ideologies but attracted to violence. He welcomed the ceasefire in the Middle East and the release of some hostages, but it was devastating to see Palestinians walking through the rubble where their homes once stood. The challenge now was to move through the next stages, and ultimately the two-state structure which was the only permanent solution.
Keir then responded to a range of questions. I raised Heathrow, where a third runway appears to clash with Labour’s environmental policies and will fuel internal tensions. In any case it will not be finished for decades, when we need visible achievements fast, well before the next election. Also “growth” is not an end in itself, but a means to desirable ends – tackling child poverty, better pay, affordable homes, whatever. Keir said that decisions on major infrastructure projects should not be ducked, but accepted lessons from the US elections: positive lines on economic graphs do not convince voters, who need quick, direct, personal improvements in their pockets and their lives. Sadly the next day’s standout words from the chancellor’s speech were “Heathrow” and “growth” …
Keeping Promises
On non-doms, Keir said that listening to the non-dom community did not mean rowing back on manifesto commitments. Constituency representatives asked him again to be careful with language about disabled people, too often framed around benefit fraud or excessive welfare spending. The disabled community were deeply alarmed. He undertook to meet Ellen Morrison, who represents disabled members on the NEC, to discuss this. He understood the case put by the WASPI community but the costs could be very high, which is why they were not in the manifesto. In a tough environment the NHS had to take priority.
Keir was also asked about the impact of winter fuel payment withdrawal on pensioners and on polling. He said that more people were now claiming pension credit, public services had to be funded from somewhere, the triple lock would give pensioners an extra £475 a year, and unlike the Tories Labour would not means-test pensions. This is all true, but the pension credit (and therefore WFP) threshold is less than £12,000 a year, half the minimum wage, and people earning the minimum wage are mostly working in buildings heated at others’ expense, not shivering in their own living rooms. My position is still that WFP could have been made taxable, or withdrawn from genuinely higher earners, but the cutoff point is much too low.
Keir pledged to continue championing the employment bill, and trade union representatives encouraged him to remove bureaucratic obstacles around their political funds. Members pointed out that the Tories had changed election laws many times, always to their perceived advantage and we should change them back while we were able to do so. And finally he promised that the Labour government would play its full part in supporting the ceasefire in Gaza and the process of reconstruction.
The Doctor Will See You Now
Ellie has revived the tradition of inviting ministers to meet the NEC, and Wes Streeting, secretary for health and social care, was first in line. He emphasised the huge challenges facing the government, and the difficulty for the chancellor and the prime minister in balancing demands and expectations. Everyone knew the problems for the NHS: long waits for ambulances, patients in corridors, unmet mental health needs, delays in seeing a GP. But he had already ended the strikes, so that doctors were on the frontline not the picket line, and made progress on a smoking ban and tackling junk food. Louise Casey was reviewing social care, with an initial report in 2026 on actions within this parliament, and he would be delighted if the full review was completed in less than three years. More money was available through the disabled facilities grant to help people live independently, and his ten-year plan would see an NHS fit for the future, moving from hospitals to the community, analogue to digital and sickness to prevention. The NHS is the UK’s most valued asset, but seven out of 10 people think they will have to pay for healthcare soon. By the next election we must be able to show an NHS in recovery and warn voters not to put it at risk.
Wes then took questions. He agreed that the pay review bodies were not working as they should, and that staff retention was an issue as well as recruitment. On prescribing puberty blockers he stressed that he was following the best clinical advice, he had met with all stakeholders and, as part of the LGBT+ community himself, he supported trans rights and was committed to reducing waiting lists for gender clinics. The care quality commission needed to do a better job. Health is a devolved issue, and members asked for English support in next year’s Welsh and Scottish elections. Wes was also asked to look at the administrative complications when people move between UK nations and change their health service.
On assisted dying, he clarified that as it was a private member’s bill, he and his department must remain neutral. Their role was to support Kim Leadbeater’s committee with technical aspects. Stephen Kinnock from health and Sarah Sackman from justice were the lead ministers for the bill.
A Lot Done, A Lot To Do
Ellie rounded off a full and informative meeting by reminding us of the plan for change: raising living standards everywhere, 1.5 million new homes, ending hospital backlogs, more police back on the beat with 13,000 more police and PCSOs, 75% of five-year-olds to be school-ready and home-grown energy. This was a hugely ambitious programme, and we had to communicate our achievements: guaranteeing the triple lock on pensions, £63 billion investment following the global summit, the national minimum wage rising again in April, the renters’ rights bill, Great British Energy, blocking polluter bonuses in the water bill, being able to see a GP, £26 million for the NHS to fund mental health services, 75 early adopters ready to start rolling out breakfast clubs in April, the national wealth fund creating 8,600 jobs in six months. She would provide quarterly updates on progress against the plan.
Partnership in Power
Finally the national policy forum was up and running. The first meeting was held on 22 January 2025, with 150 members present out of 200, including 47 out of 55 CLP representatives. I asked for channels through which NPF representatives can communicate with CLPs and vice versa, as at the moment data protection laws seem to prevent us talking to each other.
I’ve summarised the programme in my last report here. Since then the joint policy committee met on 27 January 2025 and agreed a workplan. The six policy commissions will each draft documents on Fixing the Foundations to Deliver Change in their area and launch them for consultation, including online events for members and stakeholders. Feedback would inform the NPF report to annual conference. Currently there are no dates for opening and closing the consultation, and the website is still under construction. I stressed that CLPs need a timetable to plan local events, because meetings are paused from mid-March through to mid-May for elections. In the meantime I urge members, branches and CLPs to discuss any and every aspect of policy, and send motions and conclusions to policyforum@labour.org.uk so that these can be forwarded to the appropriate commission. As always you are welcome to copy me in.
Please feel free to circulate / post online, and contact me at annblack50@btinternet.com / 07956-637958. Previous reports are at www.annblack.co.uk