NB a pdf version of this report is available here.
The next regular NEC meeting is on Tuesday 16 September but here is an update on the last hectic week, starting with an unplanned and unwanted deputy leadership election. Despite the mistake which led to her downfall Angela Rayner commanded respect and affection across the party, and she will be missed for her passionate commitment to employment rights, her loyalty, her enthusiasm, and her feisty performances deputising at prime minister’s questions. But we are where we are, and a contest is now in full swing according to the rules agreed by conference in 2021.
Members should now be aware of the timetable. Candidates first require nominations from 20% of the parliamentary Labour party, amounting to 80 out of 399 MPs. Any who meet this threshold then need nominations from 5% of CLPs – 33 out of about 650 – and / or three affiliates, including at least two trade unions representing 5% of affiliated membership. MPs had until 5 p.m. on Thursday 11 September to choose and two candidates, Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell, have secured the necessary nominations. CLPs and affiliates can then make nominations up to Saturday 27 September, and the final stage is an all-member ballot from 8 to 23 October. This schedule, with accompanying procedures, was agreed by the full NEC on 8 September following discussion by NEC officers.
No Alternative
The tight timescale generated suspicions of a leadership stitch-up to prevent other candidates gaining momentum. For once I think these are ill-founded. After this week MPs are away during the conference recess and will not be back in Westminster till October. So delaying the first stage till then would allow manoeuvring and media speculation for weeks before the formal process even started, and divert ministers from their primary job of governing the country. Equally CLPs will find it challenging to hold nomination meetings within 18 days, but the following week is annual conference, so extending this period would gain little useful time. Finally the longer the contest lasts the more money is spent by everyone involved, when resources are needed for critical elections in 2026. It is not ideal, but after thinking through all the options I supported the proposals. They were agreed with one against.
The real stitch-up would have been to leave the deputy leader post vacant indefinitely and fiddle with the rules again at conference, but almost everyone recognised that this would be politically untenable. Members deserve some choice and, unlike the 2007 leadership election, this time we will get one.
So I urge CLPs to try to organise nomination meetings because, from 2020 onwards, our decisions matter. In that leadership election one candidate had enough nominations from MPs but fell short by just two CLPs and was eliminated before the ballot. Regional offices will provide what support they can, and together with HQ can advise on procedures. These are not entirely straightforward: for instance members can vote at nomination meetings if they have eight weeks’ membership, but need six months’ membership for the OMOV ballot, an anomaly which should perhaps be corrected.
There will obviously be little time to organise hustings, but the plan is to have a super-hustings at annual conference, live-streamed to the world, and this is likely to reach more members than the sum total of all the regional hustings organised in previous elections.
National Women’s Committee, 9 September 2025
Meanwhile normal business continues. The national women’s committee was told that events on Saturday 27 September, filling the gap left by cancelling the 2025 women’s conference, were being finalised. Claire Reynolds, following spells at Labour Women’s Network and 10 Downing Street, now has a senior role at party HQ and promised that a purpose-fuelled national women’s conference in 2026 was her top priority.
The committee was presented with a family campaign pack, to be rolled out to MPs and local parties through autumn and winter. This explains what the Labour government is doing to help with the cost of living, and to support families who are working hard but do not feel better off. Highlights include rises in the minimum wage which benefit three million people, four interest rate cuts reducing mortgage payments, petrol duty frozen, and £150 off energy bills for 2.7 million low-income households. There will be separate versions for Scotland and Wales. Members requested snappy three-word slogans for use on social media.
Hostile Environment
Turning to local government selections, figures showed 55% of applicants were men and 37% women, with the rest undeclared. Summaries for ethnicity, disability and sexuality were also presented. Future meetings should receive more detailed data, and also track progress from initial application through interview, selection and election. As at previous meetings members were concerned at the levels of online abuse experienced particularly by women candidates, and we’ve had some appalling instances locally. Fewer women apply to stand in the first place and, if elected, may be more likely to stand down after one term. More analysis of the reasons is needed, and more support at every stage of their political career.
Concerns were also raised about consistency across regional interview panels, and about NEC impositions. I’m aware of applicants, including sitting councillors, who were accepted for one election and later rejected by a different panel, and at least one councillor was endorsed as a parliamentary candidate for 2024 but rejected for the local elections in 2026.
Musical Chairs
We were joined by Anna Turley MP in her second day as party chair, a role which she saw as bringing government and party together as a united team. She was elected MP for Redcar in 2012, fell with the Red Wall in 2019 and returned in 2024. Before parliament she worked as an adviser to David Blunkett where she specialised in child poverty, disability issues and early intervention with vulnerable families, all highly topical. She confirmed Keir Starmer’s statement that tackling child poverty was his number one driving mission, and he could not contemplate leaving office with levels higher than when we entered. The challenge was how to get there, given the dire financial inheritance. Up to 70% of poor children live in families with members in paid work, so this goes beyond so-called benefit culture issues.
I also asked that every government speaker at conference should announce new initiatives. Last year’s headlines were dominated by winter fuel payments and free suits, and the media will not report policies which are already known. As the party in government Labour can and should set the agenda.
Members again raised the levels of aggression towards women, especially women of colour, in public life. Islamophobia and misogyny were all too common, and Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities could not be taken for granted. They did not hear Labour celebrating diversity or recognising their heritage. Anna said that while the government had to secure the country’s borders, Labour must also set out a positive vision of the country that we want to be, and take us back from the brink. I wish her every success.
Equalities Committee, 9 September 2025
This committee meets on the same day as the national women’s committee and covers much of the same ground, so we again discussed the family campaign pack and the analysis of applicants for local government selections. Under stakeholders’ reports the Labour Women’s Network reported on training programmes, and marking the tenth anniversary of Jo Cox’s murder. Disability Labour had been focusing on the welfare situation, and on supporting disabled candidates.
Wanted: Your Views
Finally, though consultation on this year’s NPF documents closed in June, the website is still open for contributions on anything and everything at https://nationalpolicyforum.labour.org.uk/#policy-form which now reads:
“We welcome submissions from members of the public, Constituency and Branch Labour Parties, trade unions and socialist societies, as well as contributions from expert organisations such as think tanks, businesses and civil society.
No matter how new you are to politics or how involved you are in the Party, you can contribute to the Party’s policymaking. All of us will have issues we particularly care about, and expertise and experience we can bring to the Party.
The 2025 consultation has now closed, but you are still welcome to make a policy submission below. This will be considered as part of the next cycle.”
This is your opportunity – please use it, and continue 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