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Why you should attend CLPD’s AGM

The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD) will hold its Annual General Meeting at 11.30am (till approx 4.30pm with break for lunch) on Saturday 23 February at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, in Central London.

Non-members are welcome to attend the meeting as participating observers.

This will be CLPD’s 40th AGM, and will be opened by Kelvin Hopkins, who is CLPD’s Parliamentary Labour Party liaison officer. The AGM will consider strategy and tactics for increasing Labour Party internal democracy in the forthcoming year, pass resolutions and elect the new executive committee. There will be a Labour Party National Executive Committee (NEC) report from Christine Shawcroft and CLPD secretary Pete Willsman will report on the organisation’s activities over the past 12 months.

Other speakers include Chris Mullin, the parliamentary legend, who will take a stroll down CLPD’s memory lane. Chris is of course famed as the author of both A Very British Coup and his own stage-adapted diaries, but once also gave his name to a pamphlet called How to Select or Re-Select Your MP.

Ann Pettifor, one of few economists to predict the 2008 financial crash and subsequent recession, will give an economic analysis of the crisis of capitalism. Jon Ashworth MP, recently elected as the member for Leicester South, looking ahead to how Labour can win in 2015.

Current issues and resolutions, as well as Party rule change proposals, will be debated with plenty of time for contributions from the floor.

You can join CLPD on the day – or online here.

CLPD was formed in 1973 by a group of rank-and-file activists, with support from about ten Labour MPs. The first honorary president was Frank Allaun. The main motivation for the Campaign was the record of the Labour governments in the sixties and the way that Annual Conference decisions were continually ignored on key domestic and international issues.

The immediate cause was Harold Wilson’s outright rejection in 1973 of the proposal to take into public ownership some 25 of the largest manufacturing companies, covering the major sectors of the economy.

CLPD’s first demand was therefore for mandatory reselection of MPs so that they would be under pressure to carry out Conference policies. This demand was achieved in 1979/80 through the overwhelming support of CLPs and several major unions, especially those unions where the demand for reselection was won at their own annual conferences (e.g. TGWU, AUEW, NUPE).

CLPD also sought to make the Leader accountable through election by an electoral college involving MPs, CLPs and TUs. Hitherto Labour leaders were elected by MPs alone. This demand was achieved in January 1981.

CLPD also promoted a range of reforms to give Labour women and black members greater representation within the Party. The main demand for a woman on every parliamentary shortlist was achieved over the period 1986 – 1988.

In addition CLPD also promotes other issues within the Labour party, such as the significant extension of public ownership, defending the welfare state and the first-past-the-post electoral system.

The major focus of CLPD’s work in recent years has been to win back power for the rank-and-file, which has been surreptitiously transferred to the centre under the pretext of “modernisation”.

3 Comments

  1. Patrick Coates says:

    Have you noticed that you cannot buy old labour stickers or boards on members net, how are we surposed to campaign with no stickers, or should we just use the Sainsburys shopping bags this year.

  2. Gary Elsby says:

    How many CLPs are NOT allowed to recruit new members?
    Let’s say for the last four years?

  3. Swatantra Nandanwar says:

    A good line up of speakers and will be attending,

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