Labour now faces two important defensive by-elections in Copeland and Stoke Central. Both by-elections will be held on 23 February.
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I urge supporters of socialism to help in both contests.

I am sure you will have been worried to see that Copeland CLP selected a local, 'moderate' (right wing) candidate, Cllr Gillian Troughton, rather than the Left alternatives. Disappointing.

The candidate for Stoke Central has yet to be selected. Details as soon as they appear but in the meantime please contact the West Midlands Regional Labour Party for details of how to help: http://www.westmidlandslabour.org.uk/contact_details

CLP decisions relating to Annual Conference

In the meantime CLPs around the country are taking important internal decisions relating to the Labour Party Annual Conference. Progress are organising very hard, and we need a strong socialist presence to ensure Left Wing conference victories unlike in 2015 and 2016, and also to make sure that the Hard Right cannot again pass rule changes that would make it harder for socialists.

Here is what we need you to do:

1. Find out the date when your CLP will be electing its conference delegate(s) – your CLP Secretary will be able to tell you this.
2. Make sure you have true socialist candidates ready to stand to be delegate(s) and that left wing members know this is a “must attend” meeting. This will involve getting active at Branch level. Momentum may be able to help.
3. Urge your CLP to not nominate either Michael Cashman and Gloria De Piero for re-election to the CLP section of the Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC), which is elected by One Member One Vote this summer. Their manifestos are seriously right wing.
4. Ask your CLP to definitely not nominate either Rose Burley or Kevin Hepworth for the CLP section of the National Constitutional Committee (NCC). CLPs can only nominate once for the two vacancies. This election takes place among CLP delegates at conference. Their manifestos are equally appalling

The deadline for delegate registration and nominations is 23 June, but we would advise all CLPs to elect their delegates as early as possible, in case a snap General Election leads to a moratorium on party meetings or the right wing once again start banning meetings.

CLPs send one delegate for the first 749 full members they had on 31 December 2016, and one further delegate for every additional 250 individual members in the constituency or part thereof. At least every second delegate from a CLP has to be a woman; where only one delegate is appointed this must be a woman at least in every other year. Where the individual women’s membership in a constituency is 100 or more, an additional woman delegate may be appointed. Where the individual Young Labour membership in a constituency is 30 or more an additional delegate under the age of 27 may be appointed.

CLPs do not need to send their full delegation entitlement, their card vote remains the same value even if they just send one delegate. Each CLP’s delegation votes as a block, casting a card vote equivalent to its membership on most key votes, so the key objective is to ensure that a majority of your CLP’s delegates are Corbyn supporting socialists

Cheers.

P.S. please do copy and forward this to your friends and encourage them to get involved in making Labour a socialist movement once more. Thank You.

As a lifelong Labour supporter, even in the womb my allegiance was decided; Dad was a fisherman, one grandad a dock worker and the other a bargeman. My mother worked in the fish houses and so did my sisters.

They called the bosses 'gaffers' when they were respected and the establishment when they were detested.

In those days the gaffers had to work hard for respect, they had to earn it and it was the same in the Labour Party.

The MP’s and or delegates had to earn the respect of the members; they too came from working class roots and they knew what to stand for because they had experienced the hardship, the poverty but still had the drive to make life better for the jobless, the vulnerable and the working poor.

They went into politics for the right reasons, that’s what Labour was all about.

Along with the Unions they fought the battles and won.

The battles were never easy but the good things in life don’t come easily.

Thanks to these pioneering men and women, British workers got a five-day working week, paid holidays and sick leave and the country got a welfare system that was there to help those most in need. The NHS was the best there was offering care from the cradle to the grave and all thanks to these people.

Fast-forward to 2016 and it is a different political story.

These days Labour MP’s are mostly careerist; some have had privileged childhoods and many have never had to fight for anything. These people do not know or understand the day to day turmoil everyday people go through.

For whatever reason we cannot sack these people but we have to hope in some cases that their CLP’s will deselect them.

These people do not belong as representatives of the Labour Party. They have no idea what democracy is but are simply waiting in the wings to trip up and stab the man voted leader of the party, by ordinary members, in the back, because they do not want him to spoil their nice little earner.

But what Labour party members can do is vote the right people on to the NEC and the NCC.

When we get our vote we must make sure that we are voting for someone who respects the member’s choices and is not there to just feather their own nest.

An example of which, in my opinion, is Luke Akehurst.

I asked him on twitter out right “Who would you represent - the vast majority of members that voted JC as leader or your own agenda” his reply was:

“ @lukeakehurst @Karendarlau @NEWTEKWORLDNEWS @joannesinton1 I'm running on a platform of disagreeing with Jeremy, that's how democracy works. “

So his own agenda then?

I find this worrying, as here is a man who claims to be a Labour party supporter but is not willing to listen or even try to listen to what members are saying or want.

Please don’t vote for him.

We [the party] are already entrenched with people who still cling to the Blair ideology; they will not or cannot see that is what lost us the last two elections.

We need the party to come together in UNITY and SOLIDARITY. We need the PLP to listen. The NEC is a small step but it is something we can actually have a say in.

Karen Meanwell
Supported by Eileen Kersey

Ahead of NEC elections 2016 interested parties are trying to gather support and shore up defences for different agendas. The following was received early February and relates to the election campaign of Luke Akehurst; a man who is not a huge fan of party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"This is what Luke Akehurst has been sending out to CLP's in January. When reading it I found it very offensive. Please think carefully before you re-elect him onto the NEC...........

"From Luke Akehurst

I hope you have had a good break over the Christmas period and wish you a Happy New Year! Let’s hope 2016 is a better year for Labour than 2015, which must rival 1931 as one of the worst in our history.

All of us were hoping that the New Year would mean Labour refocused on party unity and preparing for the electoral challenges we face in the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, London Mayor and Assembly, local government and police commissioner elections.

Instead, the Hard Left clique around Jeremy Corbyn has thrown us into a sectarian, divisive and wholly unnecessary reshuffle. We are disgusted by the sacking of Michael Dugher from the Shadow Cabinet and proud that Michael will be keynote speaker at the Labour First Annual Meeting on 16 January. Michael was an excellent Shadow Culture Secretary and one of the most effective Labour spokespeople in taking the fight to the Tories. He agreed to serve in the Shadow Cabinet in the interests of party unity. His sacking by Mr Corbyn seems to be for the “crime” of speaking out against the pernicious influence of Momentum and defending hard-working colleagues from threats of deselection.

Our primary focus has to be working hard for Labour victories at every level in May, but there are also two key internal processes starting now where we have an opportunity to fight back against the Hard Left and reassert a strong moderate voice within the Labour Party. We need your help with both:

Annual Conference Delegate Elections

We need the maximum number of mainstream delegates to be elected by CLPs to this year’s Labour Party Annual Conference so that we can win key votes on any policy or rule changes that come forward and for the National Constitutional Committee (NCC). The 2015 conference where we won the votes on whether to debate Trident and for the NCC shows the importance of having the best possible delegates.

CLPs send one delegate for the first 749 full members they had on 31 December 2015, and one further delegate for every additional 250 individual members in the constituency or part thereof. At least every second delegate from a CLP has to be a woman; where only one delegate is appointed this must be a woman at least in every other year. Where the individual women’s membership in a constituency is 100 or more, an additional woman delegate may be appointed. Where the individual Young Labour membership in a constituency is 30 or more an additional delegate under the age of 27 may be appointed.

CLPs can elect delegates any time between now and 24 June. Many CLPs do this before the start of the local election campaign in April.

Please email me ([email protected]) to let me know when the date is of the All Member Meeting or delegate-based General Meeting when your CLP will elect delegates.

Please work with other mainstream local members in your CLP to ensure the delegates your CLP sends are moderates. Ideally please try to get elected as a delegate yourself!

As soon as your CLP has elected delegates, please let me know who they are, their contact details, and what their likely political stance is.

Nominations to NEC and NCC

Nominations are now open for the six CLP representatives on the National Executive Committee. The 33 member NEC is currently finely balanced between the Hard Left and mainstream members. The NEC is the governing body of the party between Annual Conferences in all matters relating to party organisation and rules.

We are recommending support for the following four candidates, and will announce a further two recommended names in the next few weeks:

Ellie Reeves. Ellie has been on the NEC for almost 10 years and is currently vice chair. She is elected with broad support from across the party. Ellie is a trade union lawyer and is passionate about workers’ rights. She has the experience, commitment and credibility to get the right policy platform and campaign strategy in place and to hold the leadership to account.

Johanna Baxter. Johanna has been an independent voice on the NEC since November 2010. From the West of Scotland, she is currently CLP secretary for Camberwell & Peckham and works as a trade union official.

Peter Wheeler. Peter served on the NEC until 2010 and from 2012-2014. He is from Salford where he is a local councillor. A former full-time official for the Labour Party and Amicus trade union, he is committed to building a strong democratic and campaigning Labour Party.

Luke Akehurst. Luke served on the NEC from 2010-2012. A former parliamentary candidate and Hackney Councillor, he is now a CLP officer in Oxford. His campaign website is here: http://www.luke4nec.org.uk/

Each CLP can nominate up to six NEC candidates.

CLPs can nominate at any time between now and 24 June. Many CLPs do this before the start of the local election campaign in April.

Please email me ([email protected]) to let me know when the date is of the All Member Meeting or delegate-based General Meeting when your CLP will nominate.

Please work with other mainstream local members in your CLP to ensure you nominate as many as possible of our recommended candidates.

As soon as your CLP has nominated, please let me know the result.

Each CLP can also nominate for one seat on the National Constitutional Committee, which handles the most difficult disciplinary cases and disputes. We are recommending support for Maggie Cosin who is a long-standing incumbent NCC member, currently Chief Whip on Dover Council and formerly Deputy Leader of Camden Council.

The NEC CLP reps are elected by OMOV of full members in July/August whilst the NEC CLP rep is elected by CLP delegates at Annual Conference.

Best wishes,

Luke Akehurst
Secretary, Labour First"

Check out: http://www.newtekjournalismukworld.com/british-political-scene/bds-the-labour-party-nec-hopefuls-open-letter
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Executive_Committee