It’s been a long time since votes on Labour’s national executive were recorded. Although all members of the executive are representatives of someone, they prefer to vote in secret. They don’t get away with it in parliament and we may not agree with the practice, but don’t expect it to change anytime soon. But since we believe in openness and transparency, we’ll have a stab at setting out who voted which way on the general secretaryship of the Labour Party yesterday. The responsibility for any errors is, of course, ours but we promise to correct them immediately if you let me know. Continue reading
Tagged with Labour General Secretary
Iain McNicol’s in-tray: Pandora’s Box
I welcome Iain McNicol’s election as the Labour Party’s next General Secretary. I would not describe him as a buddy, or close personal friend. Iain is a comrade. And I would like to share two experiences that highlight why.
I first met him in my capacity as chair of Save the Labour Party in 20045 while seeking members for the LabOUR Commission and starting to raise money to pay for its research programme. The GMB’s Mary Turner joined the Commission, and the GMB made a substantial financial contribution to its work. Its Interim Report is here. Continue reading
Share:
Iain McNicol is Labour’s new General Secretary
The new general secretary of the Labour Party is Iain McNicol, currently national political officer of the GMB. Iain won the support of the centre-left members of the NEC and most trade union representatives which was sufficient to win by 17 votes to 14. Even though he was not the favoured candidate of those advising Ed Miliband, he is seen as being in the centre of the party and will be absolutely loyal to Labour’s leader. However, there is also no doubt that Iain’s victory is good news for those who want to see the party becoming, in the words of Ed Miliband, “a living, breathing party” in which members have a real voice. The unsuccessful candidate, Chris Lennie, who has been the party’s deputy general secretary since 2001, would in our view have been much less likely to make the necessary changes to make this happen. Continue reading
Share:
Labour’s new General Secretary: a battle for the soul of the Party
Behind the scenes a battle is underway for the soul of the Labour Party. In a week’s time its national executive will be in full swing. Top of its agenda will be deciding who is to be the next general secretary. The short-listing panel has offered the 33-member body a simple choice between head of fundraising and former acting general secretary, Chris Lennie and the GMB union’s national political officer, Iain McNicol. Continue reading
Share:
Labour General Secretary: Will Ed leave machine politics in the past?
Yesterday, a Labour selection panel chose a shortlist of two for a new general secretary. The panel was carefully chosen to comprise largely those who would, in the bad old New Labour days, have been described as Leadership loyalists. The full executive, which has chosen the party’s chief executive since the party’s early days, may not like being given only two candidates from which to choose, but it certainly clarifies the choice. Chris Lennie, the machine insider, the establishment candidate, backed by the Leader’s advisers, versus Iain McNicol, GMB Political Officer and himself a former party organiser, the candidate most likely to restore to the party machine the civil service principles of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. Continue reading