Peter Kenyon

Change has arrived - for the Labour Party?

Skimming the blogosphere after a catching up with some beauty sleep, I have just been reminded on my Blackberry that Change has arrived by Compass, thanks Gavin, I was awake just after 2am when Pennsylvania was called for Obama and McCain was history. Tom Miller welcomed back sanity:

The big story, then, is that unlike every democratic victory since LBJ, it was won on a platform of fundamental change. Labour hasn't done this effectively since the 1960s. My generation of Labour activists believe that it is time.

Well, Tom I hope you won't mind me taking issue with you. it is not just your generation that believes it is time. My generation too includes people who understand the power of the Internet and traditional organisational skills to achieve change and think it is time.

Obama and the majority of the US electorate who voted for him have cleansed a stain from the US Constitution as set out by the founding fathers who owned slaves. We in the UK have yet to cleanse the stain from our unwritten constitution that allows a Prime Minister monarchical powers. When Labour sets out how no Labour Prime Minister will ever be allowed the powers of patronage and executive license aka the Royal Prerogative exercised in my lifetime by Brown, Blair, Major, Thatcher, Callaghan, Wilson, Heath, Douglas Home, Macmillan, Eden, Churchill and Attlee then we will know that change has arrived here too.

40,000 school governers wanted: Political parties used to recruit

Today's Independent reports that schools are short of 40,000 governors. I can remember when recruitment was a regular feature of local Labour Party activity - a stepping stone to serving in other voluntary capacities. There were issues about patronage and party whipping. But at least there was a sense of civic engagement, which could have been built on to better effect.

Rebuilding and renewing Labour Party democracy could also herald a rebuilding of voluntarism to improve local governance. That would be consistent with the devolution of power from Whitehall to local people through their democratically-elected representatives.

Scottish Labour Party: now for a SPLP shadow cabinet election?

The results of the Scottish Labour Party leadership election are expected to be announced at Noon today. I hear from north of the border that some members are now expecting an election among members of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party as to who should be members of the new Leader's shadow cabinet.

The Westminster Parliamentary Labour Party standing orders provide for such an election when in opposition (or at least they did pre-1997). Now the SPLP is in opposition, will that democratic practice be followed up north?

(The Leader then assigns portfolios to SPLP members having the greatest confidence among their colleagues.)

Warwick visitors: Draper (unelected) 1: Kenyon (elected) 0

Following my election to the NEC with 16,464 votes, I requested a visitor/observer ticket to the National Policy Forum, it was refused by the Acting General Secretary Chris Lennie. How can he justify that refusal when Derek Draper had one? I can guess in which capacity Derek was invited from press reports. He's a volunteer. But what message does that send to Labour's members who have just voted six candidates to represent them on the National Executive Committee and (under the Rules) on the National Policy Forum itself?

If I had been appointed GS all newly elected members of the NEC/NPF would have been invited as part of their induction. New members take up their places formally in September after Conference.

Labour Conference guidelines (part) on STLP website

Alongside a highly readable lament by Polly Toynbee in today's Guardian about how the Labour Party's National Policy Forum has effectively stifled debate at this year's Conference in September, official guidelines have been written which will be seen by many as further dampening the possibility of real political discourse.

The guidelines, now available on the Save the Labour Party website come in the form of a six-page guidance note from the Conference Arrangements Committee concerning 'Contemporary Issues'. This was one of Gordon Brown's ideas set out in his paper 'Expanding and renewing party democracy' bounced through passed by the National Executive Committee on 24 June 2007 - the day of his coronation adoption as Leader of the Labour Party.

A deadline of 12 September has been set for the submission of 'contemporary issues'. I know that date is before my own CLP meets in September. STLP intends to survey the Party nationally to find out how many CLPs have meetings scheduled before that deadline.

To date, no official information about this issue has been circulated to CLPs whatsoever. It is a scandal and further evidence of why Labour will remain unelectable in Westminster until its Leader acts like a democratic socialist. That means encouraging debate, not suppressing it. Perhaps, he should be subject to the backyard test first?

UPDATE : POLL Has your CLP got a scheduled meeting before 12 September?

Accountability - the route to re-electability

Save the Labour Party, of which I'm the elected chair, is often criticised for focussing on structures and processes - rules are for little people. Yup, it's the little people, or ordinary members as John Prescott patronisingly described us yesterday in his blog outing, that form that phalanx between the voting public and the political class.

My own CLP has tabled a rule change calling for the publication of a provisional Conference agenda with the Annual Accounts by 30 June. Under the Labour Party rules this proposal - a vital but symbolic step to restoring accountability in 'normal' circumstances will not be considered until Annual Conference 2009, and if agreed not enacted until 2010 - just after the next General Election.

Some wags on this blog have been harping on that the Labour Party could not possibly publish its accounts before they have been vetted by the Electoral Commission. Not true. I phoned the Electoral Commission (EC) last Friday. An EC spokesman said: "There is nothing in the legislation [PPERA 2000] to stop a political party publishing its accounts before submission to the Electoral Commission."

So in a letter to the new General Secretary I will be asking for the NEC to discuss this CLP inspired move for consideration at the 2008 Conference for implementation in 2009, and in recognition of the importance of accountability making sure that all Party Units have a copy of the Provisional Agenda and Accounts in time for August (if any) and September pre-Conference meetings. It will form part of a package of accountability measures required for immediate consideration to rebuild membership, campaigning capacity and local fund-raising to go alongside the Party policies likely to get Labour re-elected. 

If you have any ideas of what should be in that package, please let me know pdq.

BTW - the EC is publishing the accounts of the larger political parties on 30 July. They should include Labour's membership figures for end December 2007.

Spiking the plotters' guns - issue nomination papers

One simple device open to Gordon Brown to spike the plotters' guns would be to ask the new General Secretary Ray Collins to circulate nomination papers to Labour Party CLPs and affiliated unions and socialist societies ahead of Conference 2008 in accordance with Party Rules.

This would

i) re-assert Brown's moral compass

ii) draw a line under central command and control introduced by the Blairites

iii) give Labour Party units an opportunity to back the Leader or trigger a Leadership election

iv) demonstrate his political courage

As a newly elected CLP secretary, I would ask our EC to authorise an all-member ballot to endorse the current Leader/Deputy leader or write in alternatives. At the same time it would enable local fund-raising to be promoted.

Last year, we conducted an all member ballot on National Policy Forum representatives. The turnout was 16% even without a SAE, and shareclub income was doubled from £100 a month to over £200 a month.

UPDATE 1244: Vote on the issue here

In praise of Party Conferences

Cancellation of the Labour Party's 2009 Spring Conference promoted questions about party conferences in general. I have never seen the point of party political meetings that don't have powers to decide anything of substance. So I did not shed any tears about the Spring event - exclusively a talking shop.

But on the question of whether they have all passed their sell by date, news earlier today of Politics Home's panel survey, showing overwhelming support for party conferences, is a relief. There is still a job of work to be done to rehabilitate membership of political parties among the political class, members' rights and good governance.

Publish or be damned

My blog post on the whereabouts of the Labour Party accounts for 2007 seems to have irked 'tory boys never grow up' - whoever s/he is. I would like to propose a solution. If the Electoral Commission confirms that there is no provision in its regulations preventing a political party publishing its audited accounts for the benefit of its members BEFORE publication for the benefit of the wider public, then the Labour Party GS should arrange for immediate publication on the Labour Party website with an eMail to all CLP secretaries encouraging placing on branch and CLP agendas asap.

What would be your objection to that 'tory boys never grow up'?

A litmus test for political scoundrels

If a politician in Britain doesn't do membership or structures, what are we to think?

If have just been asked to pen about 100 words on changing the way we do politics. This was my response:

Doing politics

Political parties are the mainstay of our representative democracy. Without their structures and members, no politician in Britain can reasonably hope to get selected as a candidate for public office and get elected (except in very exceptional circumstances). Save the Labour Party members do not expect that to change. Any politician that stands on a public platform complaining about rigid structures and membership is simply seeking to avoid accountability.

The challenge is cross-party – the rehabilitation of the political party for the 21^st century. Labour as a democratic socialist party should be leading the way.

 Peter Kenyon - Chair, Save the Labour Party www.savethelabourparty.org

What do you think?