NB a pdf version of this report is available here.

On the eve of the formal meeting Keir Starmer hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street to thank the NEC, my first time inside since Harriet Harman’s summer drinks in 2008.  This was followed by dinner and a full day at the party’s Southwark headquarters, which opened with tributes to the great John Prescott and to Lyndon Harrison, Robert Hill and Richard Pring, former president of the Socialist Educational Association.

As usual the first meeting after conference was an opportunity to review the past year and look forward to future challenges.  The atmosphere was positive throughout, focused on what worked well and what lessons could be learned for forthcoming local, Scottish and Welsh elections.  General secretary Hollie Ridley led an analysis of the general election, with Tom Adams, director of data and insight (and a former Oxford Labour organiser).  Labour won 92% of the battleground seats, with majorities in every social group and all age groups except over-65s.  Change and competence were the messages which cut through.

This was the most efficient operation ever, giving a parliamentary landslide on 34% of the total vote share.  Undoubtedly this was affected by tactical voting, but with only one in three voters choosing Labour, and turnout down by 7%, the strength of Labour’s mandate and the first-past-the-post system itself could be called into question.  Also the strategy will not work in Wales, where the 2026 Senedd elections will use closed party lists as in former European elections, and Reform is already active.

Hollie had gathered comments from thousands of members, volunteers, candidates, MPs and affiliates.  Despite the Tories lifting the spending limit to £30,000, Labour managed to outraise and outspend them, and all donors at every level were cherished.  Trainee organisers played an essential role, paid from the NEC constituency development funds, and staff were empowered to take quick decisions on their own initiative.  Feedback from non-battleground seats would be taken on board, though I’m not sure if this means a change in substance as well as better communications.  On the plus side Hollie said that some members were grateful for being directed to where they could make the most difference.  She also asked me to let her know if any candidates had not yet been thanked, so please get in touch.

Others asked about recent council by-election results, which have been mixed, as well as whether photo-ID requirements suppressed turnout, and if taking winter fuel payment away from everyone with an annual income of more than £11,500 would have a lasting impact, especially among older people.  On immigration Labour had to listen to voters without compromising fundamental values.  I added that giving the LibDems a free ride in many constituencies could have an impact at the county elections.

Looking Forward

We moved on to campaigning as a party of government.  There are 98 seats with majorities under 4,000 and MPs were urged to use their incumbency, including 39 who won in non-battlegrounds without central help.  2025 would be difficult, as local elections are always challenging for parties in national power.  Members asked for facts to counter “populist” propaganda and we should stress positive policies, rebuild trust with Muslim communities, and upskill members on social media, including TikTok and WhatsApp.  I requested timely and direct communication with all members, not just the activist minority, especially after surprises such as farmers’ inheritance tax and cutting winter fuel payments.  Others stressed that in a cost-of-living crisis quick and visible results were needed to maintain trust and support.

BAME Labour Revisited Again

In recent years BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) Labour has become inactive, with no AGM since 2018.  Proposals referred back by the NEC in March returned, aimed at establishing it as a free-standing socialist society and an effective campaigning force.  All eligible party members will be invited to join BAME Labour, followed by elections to their executive committee.  These will be supervised by the chairs of the organisation committee (Wendy Nichols) and the equalities committee (Abdi Duale) and the NEC BAME representative Carol Sewell.  I believed that a trade union amendment added two extra NEC members, one from the unions and one from the CLP section, but the NEC elected David Agbley of Unite with 31 votes and Gurinder Singh Josan MP with 20, leaving Yasmine Dar with 9, so maybe I got this wrong – the amendments were flashed up on the screen and not circulated.  However as some BAME MPs say they were not consulted they will doubtless be pleased to have one of their NEC representatives in the group.

The situation is confusing because party members who identify as BAME already get rights in the party rulebook, including the election of their NEC representative and organisational structures at CLP, regional and national level, most of which have not been implemented.  Some ask why they should pay an extra £10 to join BAME Labour, and what they get for it. Hopefully the second question will be answered soon, and it is not unique:  Disability Labour and LGBT+ Labour are also socialist societies, alongside the structures for disabled and LGBT+ members in the rulebook, and they set their own fees and run their own affairs.

Despite concerns about who had and had not been consulted, the paper was approved by 29 votes to 4.  Unlike last time I voted in favour rather than defer for another eight months, and I hope that the NEC BAME representative and anyone else not previously engaged will now be fully included.

Socialist Societies

A paper was presented which proposed annual support meetings with all 20 of the affiliated socialist societies.  These would ensure that societies maintained high standards of governance and democracy, provide any necessary assistance and resolve any issues.  The question of what happens if issues are unresolved was not explored.  The NEC were assured that socialist society representatives had been briefed, and welcomed these principles.  New applications for socialist society status would be determined by a panel comprising the chairs of the organisation and equalities committees, the socialist societies representative Anu Prashar, Nicola Jukes of the TSSA and Gurinder Singh Josan MP.  Two were already awaiting consideration, including the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform.  The paper was approved.

Women’s Conference

The review of this year’s conference started with a detailed account of misbehaviour towards staff and members by a small but vocal group, and hopefully this is being dealt with through the party’s robust and efficient complaints and disciplinary procedures.  Everyone must be treated with dignity and respect at all times.  I was there, but unaware of problems except for disagreement over whether a motion could be debated if the mover was absent (to which my answer would be No).

Sadly some delegates also found the atmosphere adversarial and unwelcoming and would have liked more interactive sessions and fewer motions, though others wanted more motions.  The speakers were not visible from much of the hall and because it was smaller than 2023 there were very few places for visitors.  A number of CLPs booked accommodation for additional women, assuming that they could attend as visitors as in previous years, but even the Friday evening reception required passes so they were excluded.  More fundamentally some members asked what the women’s conference is actually for, and this will be discussed at a special meeting of the national women’s committee on 6 December.

The rulebook specifies that the women’s conference shall wherever practicable be held in the spring, rather than tacked on to the start of annual conference.  This is the third successive year that the NEC has decided its timing at the end of November, when it is too late to organise anything for March, so there was no alternative to continuing the arrangement for 2025.  However the NEC agreed to consider the 2026 women’s conference much earlier.  General arguments against a free-standing spring event included higher costs for venue and security, fewer ministers available, and distraction from local election campaigns.  These are rational, but other parties use spring conferences to launch their May campaigns, with national leaders and much media coverage, while Labour is absent.

The NEC also agreed deadlines for delegates and motions to women’s conference, in addition to dates for annual conference and national committee nominations.  These are all listed below, to enable CLPs to plan ahead.  I have asked for them to be circulated before Christmas, as usual.

Diary Dates

Friday 27 June 2025, 12 noon – deadline for

• Registering delegates to annual conference and women’s conference
• Nominations for conference arrangements committee – two CLP seats, at least one woman, and one disabled members’ representative; national constitutional committee CLP places (three)
• Nominations for the national women’s committee (six CLP places, nominated by CLPs where there is no women’s branch)
• Constitutional amendments to be tabled in 2025 and debated in 2026

Wednesday 27 August 2025

• Deadline for contemporary motions and constitutional amendments for women’s conference

Thursday 11 September 2024, 5 p.m.

• Deadline for contemporary motions for annual conference

Monday 15 September 2025

• Deadline for emergency motions for women’s conference

Friday 26 September 2025, 12 noon

• Deadline for emergency motions for annual conference

Devolution

Currently regional mayors are not linked into party structures, and a paper proposed establishing their accountability through regional executive committees, alongside police and crime commissioners, and allowing them two places on the national policy forum.  This seemed sensible, although mayors have yet to reach the south-east.  The NEC will consider reports on mayors’ performance when they are seeking reselection and Labour groups will be able to make supporting nominations, though trigger ballots will continue to operate according to an electoral college, 50% CLPs and 50% affiliates.  The paper was agreed.

Partnership in Power

Getting the national policy forum up and running is essential for keeping government and party in touch, and the NEC welcomed proposals to elect NPF officers and assign members to policy commissions.  These have been renamed to align with Keir Starmer’s missions, and government and NEC co-convenors were agreed as below.

Kickstart economic growth                                     Rachel Reeves MP and Karen Rose

Make Britain a clean energy superpower            Ed Miliband MP and Melanie Onn MP

Take back our streets                                               Yvette Cooper MP and Joanne Thomas

Break down barriers to opportunity                      Bridget Phillipson and Elsie Greenwood

Build an NHS fit for the future                                Wes Streeting MP and Wendy Nichols

Britain reconnected                                                  David Lammy MP and David Agbley

I asked for each commission to list the government departments within its remit, as it is not clear where, for instance, pensions or homelessness belong.  Gavin Sibthorpe was re-elected as the NEC co-convenor of the joint policy committee, with additional JPC members as listed in the terms of reference.

The membership of all other committees was rolled forward from 2024, with vacancies on the bursary panel filled by Abdi Duale and Joanne Thomas.  Only one place on the audit, risk and compliance committee was currently filled, and I voted with the majority to reduce the NEC membership from seven to five.  David Agbley, Cat Arnold, Jess Barnard and Jane Thomas were elected to join Elsie Greenwood.

The NEC then reversed last year’s decision to add a vice-chair to the complaints and disciplinary sub-committee, in line with all other main committees, for reasons which were not explained.  The chair is responsible for allocating NEC members to the three-person panels which consider individual membership appeals, applications for readmission, and disciplinary and other cases.

Aims and Objectives

For the coming year the NEC agreed the party’s core aims, under the headings of:

• robust finances
• electoral success in the 2025 elections and any by-elections, and preparations for 2026
• working across the government and the movement to implement political and organisational strategies focused on target voters in target areas
• continuing to develop campaign methods, including technological innovation
• sustainable membership, including recruitment, retention and engagement
• an even more diverse, inclusive, efficient and effective organisation

Members and Volunteers

An enthusiastic presentation followed, on engaging, empowering and inspiring members.  Every new recruit will be invited on a journey, starting with online welcoming events, with the ambition that at least 70% will stay after their first year.   Membership, including those in arrears, stood at 338,517, somewhat down from the 348,469 paid-up members in July, but the budget brought a surge of joiners.

Monthly briefings for roleholders continue, with an excellent roleholders weekend in November.  I find the technical updates on Organise and other IT tools particularly useful, but there is something for everyone, and I recommend that every roleholder signs up.  Programmes on Labour’s history attracted more than 1,000 viewers, and there are sessions on building skills towards the May elections.  All members should soon start receiving regular bulletins on what the government is doing and why, with the lines to take, and national policy forum consultations will enable everyone to contribute views on whatever they care about.

An MP asked if the party conducted a systematic overview of CLPs, to identify and fix any weaknesses.  The rules have always included a requirement for CLPs to submit annual development plans in a format approved by the NEC to their regional office.  Recently HQ confirmed that this had never been followed up, due to other priorities and staff resources, but it might be a good place to start the discussion.

Prime Minister’s Report

Keir Starmer joined us for the final session, and stressed the importance of party and government staying in tune.  The budget showed beyond doubt that Labour was different from the Tories:  raising taxes and spending in ways which define what we stand for: funding the NHS and schools, rolling out breakfast clubs, building homes, the new deal for working people, Great British Energy, public ownership of the railways, and public sector pay rises. The Tories didn’t know how to react:  they wanted to keep the good things, but wouldn’t commit to paying for them.  He was determined to repair Britain’s international reputation, building links through the Cop 29 conference, the commonwealth heads of government and the G20.

He responded to a range of questions clearly and concisely, a contrast from prime minister’s questions in that members wanted to hear the answers rather than score political points.  The world was more volatile than ever, with conflict in Sudan, Ukraine and the Middle East.  Progressive governments were losing to populism elsewhere, giving the UK a special responsibility for leadership.  Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine posed a challenge to everything we stood for, with a member state sitting at the United Nations security council table while in clear breach of its charter.  Labour had restored funding to UNWRA and opposed Israel’s ban on its work.  Licences for arms exports were evaluated according to our laws, distinguishing offensive weapons from those which defend Israel from Iranian missiles.  Britain is a signatory to the international criminal court and will uphold its decisions: without the framework of international law there is no anchor.

In Europe Keir was looking to reset relations, and had a positive meeting with Ursula von der Leyen.  He would follow up on touring visas for performers:  no-one voted for Brexit to make life tough for musicians.  He supported Rachel Reeves’ plans to rationalise multiple local government pension schemes, and agreed that investing more in renewables should bring energy costs down.  He was concerned about the million young people not in education, employment or training, but stressed that the white paper was not an attack on disabled people and he would look again at the language.  He would take concerns about ticket office closures to the transport minister and meet again with the parents of Zane Gbangbola who believed that hydrogen cyanide from a landfill site had caused his death.  He looked forward to campaigning in Scotland, where the largest-ever post-budget settlement left the SNP nowhere to hide.

Finally he emphasised that MPs had a genuinely free vote in Friday’s debate on assisted dying, and added that as director of public prosecutions he had overseen every prosecution relating to such cases, and received more comments than in any other consultation.

Please feel free to circulate / post online, and contact me at annblack50@btinternet.com / 07956-637958.  Previous reports are at www.annblack.co.uk