Emboldened by a surprise surge in support in June’s general election in which the party won 30 additional seats (though fell short of an overall majority), its leader Jeremy Corbyn will begin the process of overhauling the organization from top to bottom at the party’s annual conference in Brighton which kicks off Sunday.
A list of proposed amendments to the party’s constitution obtained by POLITICO reveals the extent of changes under consideration which, if adopted, would hand the levers of power to his supporters well before the next scheduled U.K. general election in 2022.
The constitutional amendments will cause alarm among Labour MPs, many of whom have been openly critical of their leader since his election by party members in 2015.
Corbyn and his allies are increasingly dominant in the party and many of the amendments are likely to pass. Labour MPs are likely to look to the more moderate trades unions to restrain the left of the party from taking too much power.
Corbyn’s plan seeks to overturn many changes to the party’s rulebook pushed through by former leaders Tony Blair and Ed Miliband, who sought to modernize the party. Blair’s left-wing critics in particular accused the former Labour leader of discarding the party’s socialist roots in order to get elected and now see an opportunity to recast the party in order to ensure voters are offered an emphatically left-wing option when Britain next goes to the polls.
Many of the controversial proposals have been thrown into an internal party review, under the control of Corbyn’s political secretary Katy Clark, which will be sanctioned by a vote of Labour delegates in Brighton this week. The “Party Democracy Review” has officially been created to address the “shortcomings and difficulties” in the party’s internal operations, although Corbyn’s critics see it as a naked power grab.
The review will report back to Corbyn and Labour chair Ian Lavery next year, ahead of the 2018 party conference, which now looks set to be a major turning point in Labour’s history.
According to a confidential document from a meeting of the National Executive Committee on September 19 seen by POLITICO, the review will examine “the method of electing the party leader,” the composition of the NEC — the party’s ruling body — how to give more power to members, and how best to strengthen ties with trades unions.
Roll back Blair
Among the most contentious proposals in the document is a bid to rewrite Clause IV of Labour’s constitution which was rewritten under Blair’s leadership to remove what was widely seen as the party’s commitment to socialism.
The proposed new Clause IV reads: “Labour is a democratic socialist party working for a fairer, healthier and more equal society.” While seemingly anodyne, the move will alarm MPs who view Blair’s version as a totemic emblem of the modernization of the party.
The other clause likely to cause considerable alarm, particularly among Labour’s Jewish community, would specifically allow party members to criticize “Zionism.” “Hatred of Jews shall not be evidenced by non-abusive words or actions regarding Israel or Zionism that are part of legitimate political discourse,” the proposed constitutional amendment reads.
Other reforms to be considered by Clark include lowering the threshold of MPs’ nominations required to get on any future leadership ballot from 15 percent to 5 percent, a move designed to ensure a candidate from the left of the party can always get on the ballot paper, regardless of the view of most MPs.
A separate amendment proposes scrapping affiliated supporters (largely from trades unions linked to the party) and registered supporters, who pay a small fee for the right to vote, leaving only fully paid-up members who are now overwhelmingly pro-Corbyn.
Another clause designed to empower the left, would permit members and trade unions to change party rules at the next party conference, rather than waiting a year, allowing the left to overhaul the party more quickly than is currently possible.
Provided it is sanctioned by conference, Clark’s review will report back to Corbyn and his campaign lieutenant, the new party chair Ian Lavery, within the next 12 months, after which it will be considered by the NEC and the conference in 2018.
Revolution part two
A second slate of proposed constitutional amendments, which will not be considered in the review but have been scheduled for debate in 2018, go further in empowering the grassroots membership over the parliamentary party.
The proposals, which have been put forward by local Labour parties and trades unions, need to go before an obscure but influential body called the Conference Arrangements Committee, which acts as a filter, deciding which rule changes are put to a vote by party members at their annual conference.
The CAC, as it is known, has recently been taken over by the left of the party for the first time in its history, meaning many of the proposals could be debated by conference where Corbyn-supporting delegates are now in the ascendency.
“Mad stuff is always put forward under any leader,” said one parliamentary aide opposed to Corbyn’s agenda, “but the changes to the CAC means they could get through.”
Proposed constitutional amendments which have been put forward for consideration, according to the document, include giving members and trade unions, rather than MPs alone, the power to nominate leadership candidates. Under this proposal a candidate could stand in a leadership contest with 15 percent of the votes of affiliated national trade unions or with backing of 15 percent of constituency Labour parties.
Other proposals suggest raising the proportion of MPs required to get rid of a leader from 20 percent to 40 percent; the introduction of two deputy leaders, of which at least one would be a woman; forcing the party’s general secretary to stand for election for a three year term no more than one year and eight months after the rule is introduced — i.e. before the next election. The current party chief Iain McNicol would be entitled to stand in a ballot of all party members but would almost certainly lose.
New rules on MPs seeking re-selection will also be considered by the CAC for debate at the 2018 party conference. Those on the left of the party have long pushed for the introduction of “mandatory re-selection” of the party’s candidates at each election, in order to enable grassroots members to keep a check on their MPs. The new proposal is described by senior party figures as a “compromise” proposal between the current “trigger ballot” process which means MPs must win the support of half their local party to stand again as the party’s candidate, and “mandatory re-selection.”
The new compromise proposal would mean MPs being forced to get nominations of two-thirds of the union branches in their constituency — which often do not have any actual Labour members — and local branches representing two thirds of the constituency Labour party membership.
This proposal would not come into effect until after the next election because the current selection round is already under way.
Original Article
Source: politico.eu
Author: Tom McTague
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