Labour Party Annual Conference 2022: Report – Avery Greatorex (Full Version)

Introduction I would like to thank members of the CLP for giving me the opportunity to go to the Annual Conference this year as one of three delegates. It was a huge privilege to represent our CLP, to vote and make decisions on behalf of our members and to meet some incredible people along the way.

CLP Rule changeAs a CLP we had proposed a Rule Change concerning the General Selection process within the Labour Party. Unfortunately, it was agreed to be withdrawn by delegates under the guidance of a member of the executive committee.

This is because we were made aware that our proposed change was likely to be voted down and this was further evidenced by other rule changes in a similar subject being voted down. Withdrawing the rule change was deemed necessary as an unsuccessful vote would result in us being unable to propose this again in the next few years.

It would be much better to propose it again later with more campaigning effort behind it to improve the chances of this change being made if we were to decide to propose it again.

What Went Well

Angela Rayner’s Speech: One of the biggest highlights of the conference was the speech made by Angela Rayner. It was incredibly well received and succeeded as a rallying call to everyone at the beginning of the conference. Key points in this speech include the Value for Money Guarantee, a Level Playing Field for government contracts and the green prosperity plan.

National Campaign Day: After a short meeting with the Secretary of Preston CLP, I learnt about Labour’s National Campaign Day on Saturday the 29th of October. CLPs will be able to order free campaign resources by the 19th. These are generic Labour Party campaigning materials, but it may be worth organising a leafletting campaign in Derbyshire Dales using these resources.

Proportional Representation:A tremendous success was seen as the motion for Proportional Representation was successfully carried out with a show of hands on the conference floor. This is something our own CLP has been supportive of, and it was relieving for many delegates to see this go through. I had the privilege of celebrating the success with the former MP for Ipswich and Chair of the Labour for Electoral Reform Campaign, Sandy Martin.

Justice for Colombia Campaign: To follow-up on something mentioned at a previous members meeting, I met with a member of the Justice for Colombia campaign who made me aware that CLPs can affiliate with the campaign and that they can deliver free talks to CLPs to educate members about their campaign. If members of the CLP would be interested in an online talk delivered by the campaign, I can make that contact and get something arranged with the support of members and the executive.

What Did Not Go Well

Selection of Speakers: During debates on most topics, it felt as if the Chair had consistently disproportionately selected Parliamentary Candidates to speak on topics. This can be beneficial as those candidates can get their names into public awareness which boosts the party’s chances at gaining more seats, however, it also means that the membership was not represented equally.

This was mentioned to the chair in a point of order by a member, however, this was quickly dismissed by the chair which reassured members that the selection process for speakers during the debate was random.

My own observations of the selection process also saw that there were very few disabled speakers in debates, and this was not a result of these members not volunteering to speak, this was the result of a lack of a sense of urgency from accessibility stewards whose primary role is to raise their own hand if a disabled member needs to be seen.

In addition, the BAME community saw fewer speakers despite again volunteering to speak, this was especially seen in the Asian community which as far as I can recall, did not have a single speaker.

This is important as it shows that some communities are not getting an equal opportunity to voice their opinions on motions that may affect them.

The Role of Lead Delegate: Delegates would like a member of the executive committee to request a definition of the role of a CLP delegate. This caused a few issues in our own process as it was not clear whether the lead delegate in the priority ballot and/or the CAC votes is to act on behalf of a democratic process between the delegation or if they were to make their own judgements despite the views of the delegation.

Many people within the conference had differing views on what they believed was the role of lead delegate and this is the result of limited clarification from the CAC.

Conclusions This Annual Conference was a vital one for the party because of the current state of the country and our political system. I am glad to say that the urgency to rally members and the media was present during the conference and that it was successful in presenting what Labour stands for. I personally enjoyed the experience of being a delegate and I would recommend that members give it a thought for next year.

Lastly, I would like to thank the membership and the executive committee for giving me this opportunity and for providing me with excellent support and guidance throughout the conference.

Thank you,Avery GreatorexDerbyshire Dales CLP LGBT+ Officer