The reforms being set out today are designed to ensure "One Nation" Labour is a party built by the many which continues to be more successful in the 21st Century than it was in the 20th Century. These reforms will help fulfil Labour’s historic mission to bridge the gulf between political debate in Westminster and the rest of Britain, as well as begin to restore trust in our democracy. And they will complete the journey begun by John Smith 21 years ago to make Labour a modern, democratic and open political party where decisions are taken on the basis of One Member, One Vote (OMOV).
Ed Miliband said: "This is about completing unfinished business from the past 20 years and creating a One Nation Labour Party built on the principle of One Member, One Vote. And it is about letting the people back into our politics: giving people a real choice and a real voice in our party; changing Labour so that Labour can change our country."
The reforms will give:
- Union members a real choice over the payment of affiliation fees
- Those who wish to become Affiliated Supporters a real voice within a genuinely One Nation Labour Party.
- Everyone who wants a direct individual relationship with the Labour Party a vote in leadership elections according to the principles of OMOV in which everyone is treated as equal in worth to anyone else.
- Londoners the chance to engage in politics with a primary introduced for the selection of Labour candidate for Mayor.
- A guarantee to communities that Labour’s process for selecting candidates is free from manipulation and fair to everyone.
1. A Real Choice:
Ed Miliband wants to mend, not end, Labour’s historic link to trade unions so that the party can deepen its relationship with people from every walk of life. Trade unions are hugely important civil society institutions in their own right which, week in and week out, fight for working people. Indeed, if that link did not already exist, a One Nation Labour Party seeking to give voice to ordinary people would need to invent one.
But for too long we have operated with structures which were laid down in a different era which did not anticipate the new forms of communication and community activism available for a modern political party. And, in a 21st Century political party, it is no longer acceptable or fair for people to give money to it without having made an active choice as individuals to do so.
So every individual member of an affiliated trade union will be given a straight “Yes or No” choice about whether they want to pay a small sum to ensure their union’s voice is heard within the party. Trade unions will continue to affiliate collectively to Labour but, for the first time, the payment of affiliation fees will become a wholly transparent process based on individual positive consent. These reforms will be introduced during 2014 and will apply to new members of affiliated organisations first. It will be fully implemented for existing members of such organisations within five years - which is the time frame recommended by successive reports into the future of political funding by Sir Gerald Hayden Phillips and Sir Christopher Kelly.
During this period, affiliated organisations will be encouraged to help the party maximise the number of people who agree to pay an affiliation fee. At the end of this period, the affiliation of each organisation will be determined by the number of members who have consented to the payment of affiliation fees. Only those who have made a positive choice to pay affiliation fees will be counted.
2. A Real Voice:
In the last three years, Ed Miliband has already begun opening up the party to registered supporters, campaigns to local communities, and the policy making process to good people with good ideas both inside and outside Labour so that their voice can be better heard. A new opportunity will be given to enable more people, from different walks of life, to have their say in the future of the Labour Party. Those that want to pay this fee will also be asked if they wish - at no extra cost - to become an Affiliated Supporter who has a direct relationship with the party as an individual.
This would mean:
- For the first time Labour would be able to contact people affiliated to the party directly, either in person or through phone, email and post.
- For the first time the party would be able to invite them as individuals to take part in local campaigns, policy discussions, and fund-raising.
- For the first time Affiliated Supporters would be attached as an individual to their Constituency party(but with no rights over local or parliamentary selections).
More than 20 years have passed since since John Smith succeeded in introducing the principle of One Member, One Vote, into the way we select Parliamentary candidates. But the way Labour elects its leaders has not kept pace with other changes in the party and in politics. Labour has continued with an electoral college system for choosing leaders which gives different weight to some votes and allows some people to have multiple votes.
The real choice and the real voice Labour is giving members of affiliated organisations open up a way to change the way the party elects it Leader and Deputy Leader. Because the time has come for them to be elected according to the principle of One Member, One Vote. The reforms set out today will abolish the Electoral College and ensure everyone who wants a say is given an equal say.
The role of Affiliated Supporters:
In addition to being given a choice over the payment of affiliation fees, members of Trade Unions and other affiliated organisations will be asked if they want to have an individual voice within it. Those that want to become an Affiliated Supporters - who are not already Members - will have a single vote in the leadership election, along with MPs, Members, and Registered Supporters from all walks of life who have paid a small fee to have a direct relationship with the Party.
Under the new rules all the ballot papers will be issued by the Labour Party which, for the first time, would hold the personal contact details of Affiliated Supporters. Unions and other affiliated organisations will no longer issue their own ballot papers. In the five year transition period, only those members of affiliated trade unions who have separately signed up to become affiliated supporters and consented to pay an affiliation fee will be given a vote in any leadership contest. These changes will ensure that a vote is given only to those people who make an active choice to pay fees to Labour, who declare they support Labour, and register that they want a relationship with Labour.
One of the consequences of the old electoral college was that an MP’s vote could be worth a thousand times more than that of one of their local party members. In a 21st Century political party that is impossible to justify. But the Leader of the Labour Party is chosen from its MPs. And MPs, who will have seen all the candidates close-up, should continue to have a role in ensuring that whoever is chosen is someone who can perform and command respect in Parliament.
Currently, candidates for Leader and Deputy Leader must secure the nominations of 12.5% of MPs before being allowed to enter the contest. This condition would remain but the role of MPs in the nomination process would be strengthened so that only those who secured 20% of nominations from MPs will be allowed to contest the OMOV ballot.
The role of Registered Supporters:
Many people share Labour's aims and values but do not want to become a full member. They come from all walks of life and most of them will never part of a trade union or political party. Since 2011, Labour has been signing up Registered Supporters and there are already around 20,000 of them, participating in campaigns and working with constituency parties. Labour wants to increase this number significantly over the years to come. These Registered Supporters will have similar rights to Affiliated Supporters and in return for payment of a registration fee will be given an equal vote in leadership elections.
The role of Members:
It is important to open up Labour to people who do not want - or do not yet want – to become full members of the Party. But it is equally important to recognise that Members are the lifeblood of the party and that they should retain rights which are not available to anyone else.
Ed Miliband is keen that Labour learns from the experience of other parties around the world which have opened up the selection of candidates to a wider section of the voting public through the use of primaries. This will not be the case in Parliamentary selections at this time. But it makes sense in contests like that for Mayor of London – the largest directly elected position in the UK - where potentially millions of people who support Labour would have a view on who should be the party’s next candidate.
Currently this selection is not reserved solely for Members but is conducted through another Electoral College in which Trade Union and other affiliated organisations have 50% of the vote. It is proposed that this selection is also conducted on OMOV principles with Members, Affiliated Supporters, Registered Supporters– being given an equal vote.
5. Rebuilding Trust in Selections
Changing the way politics is conducted in this country also means repairing the trust which once bound people to the Labour Party and the political process. Ed Miliband is determined to ensure everyone has confidence that Labour’s selections are fair and free from manipulation. Since the Nolan Report on party funding in the late 1990s, Labour has moved away from the old practice of sponsorship of MPs towards the current one of support for constituency organisations.
This was introduced to remove any question that financial support could be used to exercise influence, whilst also recognising the healthy role that trade unions and other organisations can play in funding local political parties and keeping elected representatives in touch with working people in their communities.
These reforms will:
In addition to being given a choice over the payment of affiliation fees, members of Trade Unions and other affiliated organisations will be asked if they want to have an individual voice within it. Those that want to become an Affiliated Supporters - who are not already Members - will have a single vote in the leadership election, along with MPs, Members, and Registered Supporters from all walks of life who have paid a small fee to have a direct relationship with the Party.
Under the new rules all the ballot papers will be issued by the Labour Party which, for the first time, would hold the personal contact details of Affiliated Supporters. Unions and other affiliated organisations will no longer issue their own ballot papers. In the five year transition period, only those members of affiliated trade unions who have separately signed up to become affiliated supporters and consented to pay an affiliation fee will be given a vote in any leadership contest. These changes will ensure that a vote is given only to those people who make an active choice to pay fees to Labour, who declare they support Labour, and register that they want a relationship with Labour.
- No one has more than one vote
- No one’s vote is worth more than anyone else
- No one but Labour can issue ballot papers
One of the consequences of the old electoral college was that an MP’s vote could be worth a thousand times more than that of one of their local party members. In a 21st Century political party that is impossible to justify. But the Leader of the Labour Party is chosen from its MPs. And MPs, who will have seen all the candidates close-up, should continue to have a role in ensuring that whoever is chosen is someone who can perform and command respect in Parliament.
Currently, candidates for Leader and Deputy Leader must secure the nominations of 12.5% of MPs before being allowed to enter the contest. This condition would remain but the role of MPs in the nomination process would be strengthened so that only those who secured 20% of nominations from MPs will be allowed to contest the OMOV ballot.
The role of Registered Supporters:
Many people share Labour's aims and values but do not want to become a full member. They come from all walks of life and most of them will never part of a trade union or political party. Since 2011, Labour has been signing up Registered Supporters and there are already around 20,000 of them, participating in campaigns and working with constituency parties. Labour wants to increase this number significantly over the years to come. These Registered Supporters will have similar rights to Affiliated Supporters and in return for payment of a registration fee will be given an equal vote in leadership elections.
The role of Members:
It is important to open up Labour to people who do not want - or do not yet want – to become full members of the Party. But it is equally important to recognise that Members are the lifeblood of the party and that they should retain rights which are not available to anyone else.
- For the first time there will only be one type of vote in Leadership elections and Members will not be confined to a one-third share of an Electoral College dominated by MPs and Unions. Instead they will have an individual vote along with Affiliated Supporters and Registered Supporters.
- Members will remain the only people who can select Parliamentary candidates.
- Members will remain the only people able to select or become constituency delegates to the annual conference.
- Members will remain the only people who can stand for election as Labour representatives.
- Members will continue to hold elected representatives to account.
Ed Miliband is keen that Labour learns from the experience of other parties around the world which have opened up the selection of candidates to a wider section of the voting public through the use of primaries. This will not be the case in Parliamentary selections at this time. But it makes sense in contests like that for Mayor of London – the largest directly elected position in the UK - where potentially millions of people who support Labour would have a view on who should be the party’s next candidate.
Currently this selection is not reserved solely for Members but is conducted through another Electoral College in which Trade Union and other affiliated organisations have 50% of the vote. It is proposed that this selection is also conducted on OMOV principles with Members, Affiliated Supporters, Registered Supporters– being given an equal vote.
5. Rebuilding Trust in Selections
Changing the way politics is conducted in this country also means repairing the trust which once bound people to the Labour Party and the political process. Ed Miliband is determined to ensure everyone has confidence that Labour’s selections are fair and free from manipulation. Since the Nolan Report on party funding in the late 1990s, Labour has moved away from the old practice of sponsorship of MPs towards the current one of support for constituency organisations.
This was introduced to remove any question that financial support could be used to exercise influence, whilst also recognising the healthy role that trade unions and other organisations can play in funding local political parties and keeping elected representatives in touch with working people in their communities.
These reforms will:
- Ensure standardised constituency agreements are regulated and overseen so that no-one can allege individuals are being put under pressure at a local level.
- Agree a strengthened Code of Conduct for selections, a swift timetable and guarantees that local Members have proper interaction with the candidates.
- Impose a limit on what candidates can spend in pursuit of selection and a cap on donations to a campaign.
