Statements from the March 20th NEC 2007.

The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee met to agree procedures for elections for the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Party whenever vacancies arise.

The National Executive Committee agreed the following:

• The election will commence after the NEC first meets following the announcement of a resignation date, and continue for a minimum of 7 weeks.

• The Labour Party will arrange a series of Leader and Deputy Leader hustings events across the country, at which all candidates are expected to attend.

• At the conclusion of this timetable the election will be announced at an Electoral College meeting, made up of MPs, party members and members of affiliated organisations.

• Should only one candidate be validly nominated for either post, they will be expected to attend hustings events throughout the duration of the timetable. They will then be declared as Leader or Deputy Leader at the Electoral College meeting.

• To allow maximum participation the 6 month rule and 8 week eligibility rule will not apply to new members in this election (see Editor’s Notes).

• A Procedures Committee will oversee the election process. It will be comprised of the Labour Party General Secretary and senior party representatives.

• Candidates will be declared validly nominated if they achieve the support of 45 (12.5%) Labour MPs, including themselves.

• Constituency Labour Parties, affiliated organisations and Labour MEPs may also make ‘supporting nominations’, the details of which will be sent out to members.

• The ballot will be undertaken by Popularis, and there will be the option of secure e-voting and telephone voting.

• The elections will be by single transferable vote, and aggregated as a national total.

• Trade unions must ballot their levy-paying members. The vote of a trade union General Secretary will count no more and no less than any other member of his or her trade union.

• Trade Union and Socialist Society affiliates ballot papers must include a statement of support for the Labour Party, which its members will be required to approve.  Any ballot papers returned without this section completed will be considered ineligible.  In the case of Trade Union affiliates the wording to be included is set out below:

 “I support the principles and policies of the Labour Party, am not a supporter of any organisation opposed to it and pay a political subscription to the body that issued this ballot paper.”

National Executive Committee response to Hayden Philips report on Party funding

MIKE GRIFFITHS, Chair of Labour’s NEC, responding to the Hayden Philips’ Report on party funding, said the Labour Party was pleased that spending limits are now rightly at the heart of the debate on the future funding of political parties.

Following debate at Labour's NEC meeting, he said:

"We have always argued that excessive spending at elections now needs to end.  It is vital for the future fairness of British politics that we achieve a level playing field. The British people know it cannot be right that in individual marginal seats the Tories could raise up to 12 times more than their nearest rivals.

“For example, the Tory campaign in the run up to the 2005 election in Welwyn and Hatfield constituency had over £180,000, compared to just under £15,000 for Labour. 

 “Such large amounts of money can make a huge and unfair difference. The Labour Party believes it is in the interests of our democracy that this unfairness is ruled out in the future, and looks forward to cross-party talks that can deliver such an outcome.

“We also look forward to the talks making progress on other good principles, including a proper role for additional state funding and the reform of the Electoral Commission.

“We have made clear throughout this process, that the Labour Party wants any changes to be workable, to respect differing party structures and their constitutions. For us this means nothing should break the historic link between the Labour Party and the Trade Unions, which helps ensure our policies and priorities are grounded in the real life experiences of millions of people.

“While Hayden Philips does recognise that different political parties have got different historical structures, his proposals on uniform donation caps do not appear to live up to this objective. As part of any settlement it is vital that this is resolved – any donations cap that in effect breaks Labour's link with the Trade Unions would be a non-starter.

“We also believe there needs to be real transparency in Party funding.

“Despite the warm words from David Cameron, the funding of the Tory Party continues to be shrouded in secrecy. The Tory Party still relies significantly on donations from secretive ‘unincorporated associations’ which can obscure the true source of the funding. Over the years, the Conservative Party has received many thousands of pounds in donations from the Midlands Industrial Council, about which almost nothing was known until recently. Under pressure from Labour, the Tories have finally been forced to reveal some of the wealthy backers behind this shadowy organisation. They must now reveal all new members.

“As Hayden Philips seeks further consensus, it is vital he gets to the bottom of the Tories’ secret funding and prevents them from hiding these secret funds from the British people. “