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Centre Left candidates for Labour’s executive launch their campaign

CLGA Slate 2014 with slogan half width
Six candidates backed by the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance today launched their campaign to be elected to Labour’s national executive committee as constituency party representatives. Constituency parties have until 20 June to make up to six nominations.

All six stood at the last elections in 2012, and between them received 47% of the votes of individual party members, compared with 33% for the right-wing Progress/Labour First slate and 20% for other candidates. The  six centre-left candidates include the three who were elected last time — Ken Livingstone, Ann Black and Christine Shawcroft — who took thee of the top four places and the other three — Kate Osamor, Peter Willsman and Darren Williams — were amongst the top four runners up with Kate Osamor only 123 votes from victory.

The candidates are standing on a platform which sets out “the bold progressive policies Labour needs to win back the five million voters lost in the New Labour years” as well as the reforms needed to create the “living, breathing party” promised by Ed Miliband and which is so necessary to mobilsing Labour’s grassroots to deliver that victory.

This year, constituency parties have the chance to elect representatives to Labour’s National Executive. The Centre Left Grassroots Alliance, representing democratic socialist groups across the centre and left of the Labour Party, is promoting candidates who will stand up for the rights of party members and the bold progressive policies Labour needs to win back the five million voters lost in the New Labour years. Each candidate, while retaining freedom of judgment on specific issues, will therefore work for:

An End to Austerity

The Tory-led Coalition’s cuts agenda has caused huge damage to the economy, slowing growth, increasing unemployment, reducing living standards of most people, and increasing poverty and inequality. It has even failed in its own aim of lowering the national debt, which has increased as the economy has stagnated.

We reject austerity as a solution to the economic crisis. Instead of cuts, we will work for a Labour government committed to a plan for public investment and jobs that can get the economy growing, to restore manufacturing and to fund improvements in housing, health, education, transport and state pensions.

A Radical Reforming Labour Party

These candidates will campaign for a Labour Party committed to:

  • redistributing wealth, income and power from the few to the many;
  • ending poverty and improving universal benefits;
  • protecting the environment;
  • promoting social justice; and
  • fighting discrimination on grounds of gender, race, age, class, disability, sexual orientation and religion.

We believe that disputes between countries should be resolved by negotiations through the United Nations, not through unilateral military action, and that Britain & the world would be safer without replacing Trident.

Economic Democracy

These candidates will:

  • Promote policies that extend the accountability of public services, utilities and resources through the extension of public ownership, by resisting and
  • reversing privatisation, and by extending democratic and financial powers for local government.
  • Campaign for a radical redistribution of power in the workplace, with improved trade union and employment rights, the right of trade unions to recruit members, recognition by employers with negotiating rights and sectoral collective bargaining, and a legally-enforced living wage.

Democracy, Transparency and Accountability

These candidates will:

  • Support the trade union link and back the collective voice of trade unions on the basis of parity of representation with individual members through their CLPs;
  • Work to restore the role of the Party Conference as the party’s sovereign decision-making body, able to choose policies not just rubber stamp them,  and debate motions submitted on the basis of fair criteria, with 50% of conference time reserved for grassroots delegates;
  • Argue for changes to the policy-making process which give CLPs and members greater influence, including the right to amend policy documents at Conference;
  • Safeguard the right of members to choose their own candidates without prior or political vetting, or interference by party officials.
  • Press for Young Labour to be a resourced campaigning organisation controlled by young members and run by its elected leadership, with a full input into policymaking.

A leaflet may be downloaded here which sets out this programme and individual candidates’ statements. If you would like to help with this campaign, please enter the following details:

Your Name (required)

Your Email (required)

Telephone number(s)
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Your address



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Your Constituency Labour Party

Trade union and other affiliates

18 Comments

  1. eric clyne says:

    You cover services well enough but we could do with more on wealth creation.

    I think Britain needs a Sovereign Wealth Fund investing several billion a year into SME’s and joint ventures with large companies in order to create jobs, upgrade skills and produce goods.

    A Sovereign Wealth Fund constitutes ownership of assets by the citizenry just like nationalisation does.

  2. Patrick Coates says:

    I will not be voting for the 3 who got elected last time, sorry Ann, Ken and Christine, the others need a chance to shine.

    1. Jon Lansman says:

      You will have six votes Patrick

  3. John reid says:

    I’d hardly call Kate Osamor centre left, the article she wrote for CLPD, was so liabolous, ,regarding mark duggan and Cynhtia Jarrett and the riots, I was too worried to distribute it to my local party members ,when they sent it to me, also what about Johanna , the independent candidate doesn’t she deserve another chance

  4. Dave Roberts says:

    Expect to lose the next election with Livingstone and Shawcroft up there. The far left is poison, haven’t you all realised that yet? Both of them should have been expelled for supporting Lutfur Rahman and the Islamists in Tower Hamlets. John Reid. Sorry don’t understand what was libelous about a leaflet that we haven’t seen. Can you give us details?

  5. John Reid says:

    The police shot dead people during the riots, beat a black woman unconscious, murdered Cynthia Jarrett,and Mark duggan, among other things ,all the police are still racist,the Braodwater farm murderers were acting in self defence!, the rioters at that time spoke for the rest of the people on the estate,

    In all fairness to your view that Livingstone should have been expelled for supporting Kufthur, Dan hodges wasn’t. Expelled for backing Boris for mayor, but he’s resigned from the party now anyway,

  6. Patrick Coates says:

    Blimey!

  7. RedShift says:

    The same slate? You must be kidding. The reason I didn’t vote for the Grassroots Alliance slate in it’s entirety last time (for the first time) was because there wasn’t a single northerner on the list. You’ve got the same London/South-East dominated crew as per usual – and how often do they visit northern CLPs? Never!

    I’ll give the Welshman a go and Ann Black will get my vote, maybe Christine Shawcroft. Ken could be doing far better things than arsing around on the NEC, Willsman should have given up his spot for some younger blood so he can sod off and Osamor I’ve heard next to nothing about since the last NEC elections, so those three could well fail to get my vote. He might be on the right-wing slate but I’m going to give Peter Wheeler my vote in protest at your apparent failure to find any northerners since last time.

  8. Matty says:

    John Reid is making stuff up as per usual. If you want to see the article for yourself you can look it up at the CLPD archive http://home.freeuk.com/clpd/cb75_2012.pdf

  9. peter willsman says:

    In response to RedS,CLPD has fringe meetings all over the UK.We have recently had one in Blackpool and will soon have one in Perth.I have spoken at meetings in every region( and Wales and Scotland )and will soon be off to speak in Hull.Perhaps RedS can get me an invite to his CLP and I will use my bus pass to save them money.

  10. peter willsman says:

    Further note to RedS.Can you look out info. re. local nightclubs,so I can have a good dance while I am up your way.

  11. Yes, it is a shame to not have all the regions covered – but there are other factors to take into account too when deciding on a slate, including wanting a mixture of fresh ideas and experience, equal gender representation, and ethnic minority representation. With only six places, I don’t think giving representation to four regions is that bad going. CLPD and the wider centre-left also supported a rule change at conference several years ago to give additional spots on the NEC to CLPs in Scotland and Wales.

    Kate Osamor has been out campaigning all over the place – you can follow her on Twitter (@KateOsamor) for more. She’s spoken at numerous events; she has organised for BAME Labour; written for Left Futures; run training events for student unions… And with the NHS such a key battleground at the next election, having an NHS worker like Kate on the NEC will be of great use in bringing our party’s governance back into the real world.

  12. Daniel Blaney says:

    last saw Kate Osamor on the Unite train back from Manchester for the NHS demo, a couple of months ago. She’s always campaigning somewhere, online or on the streets. She is excellent.

    Agree six places is not enough to ensure proper representation of members from across the country. That is why the campaign to increase the places is so important. Don’t punish good candidates because of an inadequate rule book. Change the rule book.

  13. John reid says:

    Great, the CLPD leaflet that was sent to my local party that I binned due to libel is online, O.K form 18 months ago ,I didnt get word for word recalling it right, but as this is online it’ll hopefully help the police sue the CLPD for libel, as most of what. Said be it using different terms was right,it was a disgraceful article and I hope the Sue you and you get shut down, and also don’t dare say I made things up,Osamor saying the police murdered Duggan and the broadwater arm rioters were acting in self defence is making things up,it’s also left wing fascism,

  14. Robert says:

    John your are a silly boy, of course he was shot mate killed murder is a bit strong but he was unarmed as for being shut down, why.

    free speech mate

  15. Matty says:

    Let’s look at what John Reid wrote:
    “The police shot dead people during the riots,”
    There is absolutely nothing to back this up in the leaflet.
    “beat a black woman unconscious” again nothing like this in the leaflet. The closest you might get in the leaflet is this “Before the 2011 summer of unrest the people of Tottenham were under increasing police pressure, and an alienated environment was created between the local community and the police”
    “murdered Cynthia Jarrett”
    Cynthia Jarrett isn’t even mentioned in Kate’s piece.
    I could carry on but I think the point is made. All of the comment was wildly inaccurate to say the least.

  16. swatantra says:

    I’ll be backing Ann, but not Ken.

  17. John reid says:

    Libel is free speech. But it doesn’t make it right, and he wasn’t murdered, he was lawfully killed, and being unarmed,includes throwing the gun away a split second earlier?

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