NB a pdf version of this report is available here.
National Executive Committee Meeting, 25 June 2026
This was a special meeting to agree the process for electing a new leader after Keir Starmer announced his resignation. Like everyone else I’ve been following developments on social media, including candidates, timetables and procedures and various leaked discussions, some accurate, some maybe not. It’s frustrating for NEC members who are expected to know these things before the rest of the world.
The chair Shabana Mahmood led tributes to Keir’s leadership through six testing years, from despair to hope and to the landslide victory of 2024, particularly in restoring the UK’s reputation on the global stage. I can understand disappointment with slower than anticipated progress, and some unforced errors, but many members joined in 2020 because of Keir and are upset by his departure. We all need to acknowledge that, and end the tradition of driving out supporters of the previous leader every time we get a new one.
According to the rules candidates need nominations from 81 MPs, 20% of the parliamentary party. They also need the backing of 33 CLPs (5% of the total) and / or three affiliated organisations which must include two trade unions comprising 5% of the affiliated membership. In 2020 these stages ran in parallel through a full month, with CLPs and affiliates each nominating according to their own procedures. The proposal before us now was that if MPs nominated just one candidate, only the affiliates would participate in a “compressed affiliate nomination stage”. They would cast their votes on 16 July, and if in favour the new leader would be declared elected at a special conference the following day, 17 July 2026.
Should further candidates emerge from the PLP, or should the unions decline support for the sole candidate, CLPs will be involved in nominations and if necessary there will be a one-person-one-vote ballot with a schedule running through to the August bank holiday. I haven’t given the extra dates for these because they won’t happen.
Stronger Together
The main bone of contention was giving affiliates precedence over local parties, whose members worked so hard in the May elections and in Makerfield. Most party procedures recognise the equal and complementary roles of the unions and of CLPs, where individual members contribute directly. Each wing has 50% of the votes at conference and in MPs’ trigger ballots, equal rights to nominate the NEC BAME, disabled and young members representatives, equal representation on the national policy forum and the national women’s committee. Every constituency representative was unhappy about deviating from this. Far from setting one wing against the other, as some implied, we were defending the principle of the electoral college which is embedded in party rules and traditions.
Against this was the need for speed and efficiency. Government is different from opposition: the UK / European Union summit has been postponed till there is a new leader, and key decisions on spending are held up by uncertainty. The unions can agree nominations within 24 hours, while CLPs have to consult several hundred thousand members directly at all-member meetings. This was highly engaging in 2020, with four candidates for leader and five for deputy, and last year’s deputy leadership contest between Lucy Powell and Bridget Phillipson was positive and thoughtful. But I am not sure how many would come along just to vote for Andy Burnham or not. The standard agenda does not allow general comments about the process, and CLPs cannot add names which MPs have not put forward. So adding two weeks to the timetable could not change the outcome. If we have been too hasty, we will find out soon enough.
However CLP representatives actively looked for ways to engage members and asked for Q-and-A sessions or other opportunities to talk with the heir-apparent, even if these were outside the formal process. Lucy Powell and others were sympathetic, and the procedures committee would consider what can be arranged before or after the election. I also asked for an urgent review of the rules, which are not fit for purpose in the current situation. This was agreed: each time the NEC changes the rules, it concentrates on resolving issues around the previous election, rather than cover all possibilities in future elections. Given assurances on both of these I accepted the paper, which was carried with 26 in favour and four against.
Looking Forward
Heading towards conference I’d be interested in whether and how you think the rules should be changed. Do we need different procedures in government and in opposition? If MPs only nominate one candidate should there be any further process, because if affiliates and CLPs both reject the lone candidate where does that leave the party? And, something that many have raised with me, how can we encourage a more diverse pool of applicants?
As background, Labour last elected a new leader in government in 2007, after Tony Blair stood down. At that time candidates needed nominations by 12.5% of Labour MPs, and only Gordon Brown reached the threshold. A new deputy was elected at the same time and a close contest between Harriet Harman and Alan Johnson provided excitement which masked discontent with Gordon Brown’s coronation. Also he had worked alongside Tony Blair for many years, his ascension was considered inevitable, and there was little sense of suspense or instability. Very different from today.
Back in 2007 affiliates and CLPs could make “supporting nominations” but these had no formal status. They only acquired full nomination rights in 2018. In 2020 the first threshold was 10% of the parliamentary party and MPs put forward five candidates for leader, but Emily Thornberry failed to win enough CLPs or unions and Jess Phillips withdrew, leaving Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Keir Starmer. So MPs alone, without involving CLPs or unions, would actually have given members more choice on the ballot. MPs also nominated five candidates for deputy leader, all of whom achieved 33 CLP nominations. The process was engaging for members, and I believe worth the effort. It was pre-Covid and venues were expensive, but online nomination meetings are now much more cost-effective. So I would argue for keeping nominations by affiliates and CLPs except where they cannot make any difference to the result, in which case neither wing should be asked to nominate. But I welcome your thoughts.
Back on the Campaign Trail
Away from Westminster the priority now is the by-election for mayor of Greater Manchester. With second preferences restored to the electoral system, Labour must establish Bev Craig as the leading anti-Reform choice. Finally the NEC recorded warm thanks to party staff, especially in the north-west, who have worked unremittingly through election after election, and cannot look forward to a break until August.
As usual please feel free to circulate and/or post online, and contact me at annblack50@btinternet.com / 07956-637958. Previous reports are at www.annblack.co.uk