On 17-18 November the annual Labour Party NEC away day was held followed by a full NEC meeting, at Unite – the Union's historic residential conference centre in Esher, Surrey. On a scale of 0 – 10 of 'nothing is too good for the workers' it deserves a 9. If the Wi-fi had been kept on 24-hours a day, I would have given it a 10!
Political context – A united Party, successful annual conference, confident party leader showing the world how to tackle the banking crisis and steer the world economy out of recession as quickly as possible, capped by a stunning (and frankly) unexpected by-election victory in Glenrothes have put a 4th British general election in our sights. In the meantime there are Mayoral, County Council and European Parliamentary elections on 4 June next year – a springboard for Labour. The attempted Blairite coup against Gordon Brown and a 20-point gap in the polls between us and Cameron's Conservatives seems light years away. Shortly after we left Esher, leading pollsters Ipsos Mori published a poll showing Labour only three points adrift and the biggest party in Westminster, a mere 11-seats short of a majority. As one PLP representative remarked, “even [Labour] MPs in marginal seats have a spring in their step.” My assessment is that this is going to be immensely valuable. Party morale needed boosting to rebuild membership, motivate activists, and maintain momentum.
Away- Day
Aims and Objectives
The idea behind the annual away-day is for the members of the NEC to come together and discuss events and issues that the Party will face over the coming year. The day began with a discussion on the NEC Aims and Objectives paper, which covers and broad range of priorities for both the NEC and the Party not just over the coming year, but looking forward two electoral cycles. Measureable targets have been set. I welcomed this more strategic approach which echoes the work of the LabOUR Commission and Save the Labour Party, which I have been heavily involved in for the last five years. I asked that this approach be adopted at branch, constituency, borough, district and regional party levels as well. We had presentations on Membership – recruitment and retention, Finance, and Elections. Membership remains a challenge. But no one doubts the opportunity. The critical question remains how? The Party's web presence Membersnet is to be the subject of a User Survey. Finance and members' perceptions of how the national Party manages its affairs is, I believe, as important to rebuilding as the Party's political standing in the opinion polls, and the weekly electoral tests in local government by-elections up and down the country.
Finance
The Party's governance/finance arrangements are being addressed. Though looking back through NEC members' published reports of last year's Away Day, I came across this reference in Stephanie Peacock's account:
“General Secretary, Peter Watt gave a report on Party Finances and Fundraising, outlining the stable and well managed situation the Party finances are in.”
Which only goes to prove that you can never be too careful, and underlines the need for effective scrutiny by lay members of the NEC. Revelations of undisclosed loans to the Party hidden from Party Officers, including the Treasurer, almost immediately after last year's away-day triggered a sequence of actions by the NEC, in particular by its officers, to save the Party from insolvency and qualified accounts. The evidence is already in the public domain. The 2007 Annual Accounts filed with the Electoral Commission, reported to members and adopted at Conference tell the story.
Our new General Secretary Ray Collins, who has barely been in post three months, will be sending out a report to CLPs, affiliated socialist societies and trade unions setting out how we plan to continue living within our means, pay for campaigns and clear our debts. As far as branches and CLPs are concerned, I think that national officers of the NEC and party staff are going to have to proceed with caution. The underlying issue is should branches and CLPs be responsible for and encouraged to fund their own activities? My attitude is emphatically, yes. Should the Party have a debate about redistribution, mutual aid and support – locally within CLPs, regions and nations? Again, emphatically, yes. But we didn't get into that level of detail at the Away Day itself. But there was a recognition of the need to seek out and circulate examples of good practice at all levels. That will represent an important start.
Elections 2009
We received a full presentation on the elections that are coming up next year, how the Party will be approaching them and what the key areas are. We were given information about the resources, training and support that is available for local parties. Deputy Leader Harriet Harman introduced the presentation on Campaigning, Elections and Vote 2009 and reminded us about the importance of the European elections which involves the whole electorate, 40% of whom now have a postal vote. She called for a major mobilisation. As one leading TU representative remarked, “we can't win without footsoldiers”. I asked about the manifesto process, and our readiness to work together with sister parties and was assured that Compass Youth/Young Labour members contributions to drawing up the PES manifesto online were valued as a means of engaging young people as party members. In my view this level of sensitivity is vital to reversing the decline in membership.
Partnership in Power
We were offered an office presentation on how the outcomes of the new policy processes have worked since 2007 Annual Conference. A timetable for further work was outlined, with provisions for two possible further meetings of the National Policy Forum under its present membership before the next British General Election – one in February/March, and another possible just before the election. The Joint Policy Commission met on 19 November. Look out for an update in my colleague Ann Black's NEC report. I asked why the Party had not taken advantage of the Save the Labour Party/CommentonThis/Compass Youth initiative to enable NPF documents to be commented on and amended transparently. Sadly, I did not get a reply. Too many members have had no feedback about their amendments. There have been too many instances of papers being issued too late to enable members to participate. As a result the Leader's promise to give all members a say is still to be honoured. This is an area of Party activity which is formally due for review in 2009 as a result of an undertaking given by the Leadership at the 2007 Annual Conference. One to watch.
The following day we had a formal NEC meeting. Further discussion between the General Secretary and myself is planned as I remain to be convinced that changes to the NEC's Terms of Reference as agreed will achieve their stated objectives. A fuller report will follow in Part 2.
If you have any queries about this report, or any other matter of concern to you, your branch or CLP please let me know. With best wishes, Peter Kenyon [email protected]