The left CLP reps report on Labour’s National Executive Committee held on 19th May.

Labour’s May NEC meeting started an hour late, which wasn’t a great start, due to the selection panel for the Makerfield by-election taking place. The agenda was quite insubstantial, which did enable some discussion of Labour’s disastrous election results.

The Leader’s report was the first significant item on the agenda. Starmer acknowledged that the local election results were tough, and said he takes responsibility for those results, paying tribute to the hard work of councillors who lost their seats. However, there was no sign that he understood why he, and the government, were so unpopular, suggesting that the response should be more of the same rather than the change of direction that is so desperately needed, and which the election results clearly point to a desire for. 

Starmer noted a status quo of 20 years, in clear contrast to Burnham’s position of wanting to challenge the 40-year status quo, unchallenged since the 1980s Thatcher government. He also talked about the challenge of the Middle East, plans to nationalise British steel, and the need to come together to fight the Makerfield by-election.

Some on the right of the NEC noted their unhappiness that a by-election was taking place. Other issues raised included legislation on conversion therapy, jobs at Network Rail, nationalisation of energy, press bias and electoral reform. Once again, questions from left CLP reps with their hand up were not taken. Starmer’s response to some of the key issues raised once again showed the inadequacy of his approach to meet the collapse in Labour’s support,  including stressing the importance of military spending.

The Deputy Leader’s report thanked staff for all their hard work and some concerns were raised about the intense pressure on staff. Lucy Powell described results in Wales as devastating and described what’s happening as a generational challenge to see off the far right. She spoke of the need for a stronger Labour story, which was clear about our values and whose side we’re on, noting that we had benefited from the collapse of the Tories in 2024, and won the general election on a low vote share. Now there was an intense dissatisfaction with Labour in a similar way. She reported that she had attended a number of trade union conferences, and that coming together as a labour movement was important at this time. 

Gemma Bolton noted the collapse in Party membership, and particularly in activists on the doorstep during recent elections, which had been warned about by the left for many years. Gemma spoke of the need for a complete change of direction to value members and restore Party democracy so members knew they mattered and were able to influence the Party’s direction. This sentiment was, unusually, echoed by a range of NEC members who had noticed how few members were campaigning. Gemma also noted that the NEC should be informed about membership numbers, as they always had been previously.

Lucy Powell said some of the attacks on Keir Starmer were unfair and Labour had done lots of good things. It was important for the Party to come together to fight the by-election.  

The General Secretary’s report covered similar themes, noting that lots of good people had lost seats but she was proud of the campaign run. Once again there appeared to be no understanding of the deep dissatisfaction voters expressed at the recent elections, with the answer being more of the same, and an expectation that voters would return to Labour in a general election.

A youth fund is being set up for young people who want to go to Makerfield to campaign for Labour in the by-election. There was a lot of discussion around election strategy, and attack messaging for the other parties, once again missing the point about why voters have moved away from Labour. 

Gemma Bolton raised with the General Secretary that the Campaign Improvement Boards had been extremely damaging in demotivating activists and losing decent councillors with a connection to their communities, as well as deeply undemocratic. The response entirely missed the point.

The Treasurer’s report raised some concerns amongst NEC members about the Party’s finances, particularly the drop in income from membership fees.

Jackie Baillie gave a report from Scotland, which had been a very disappointing result. She noted the dissatisfaction with the UK government being expressed, particularly in relation to the Winter Fuel Allowance cut, lack of help for WASPI women and the Peter Mandelson scandal. Jackie also noted the issue of motivation amongst activists. 

The General Secretary of Welsh Labour reported on the terrible results there, blaming an anti-establishment vote, the cost of living crisis with Reform as a vehicle for protest voters and Labour voters who are disengaged and didn’t vote, or were persuaded by the messaging that the election was a two-horse race, which didn’t include Labour. Several NEC members raised issues with Labour promises not voting Labour, and messaging not motivating voters.

Finally it was noted that James Murray would replace Wes Streeting as the ‘Build an NHS fit for the future’ policy commission.

Image: https://socialistalternative.info/2022/07/01/wakefield-by-election-yet-another-tory-catastrophe/ Creator: Kim Hansen (Wikimedia Commons User:Slaunger) Copyright: Kim Hansen Licence: Attribution 3.0 Unported CC BY 3.0 Deed