A report from Labour’s National Executive Committee Away Day on 2nd December by left CLP reps.

Deputy Leader’s Report

Everyone congratulated Lucy Powell on her successful election.

Lucy talked about rebuilding the voter coalition, including in the nations, and discussed the May elections and supporting Scotland and Wales. She was enthusiastic over the Budget, commenting that it was a very “Labour” budget. She noted that it can be difficult for a Party when in government because leaders are focused primarily on running the country but, because she’s not in Cabinet, she can focus on members and recruitment. Not being in Cabinet, however, means she has no team of staff around her supporting her.

Gemma Bolton welcomed the commitments made by Lucy during the Deputy Leadership campaign to working at the grassroots with the membership, noting falling membership and reduced numbers out on the doorstep. Gemma asked for Lucy’s view on how this could be turned around. Lucy spoke about her ‘Lucy Listens’ events and their success in engaging members, as well as a webinar happening that evening with 1,800 members signed up. She said she was happy to attend CLP meetings across the country.

While Lucy Powell was not the left candidate and we would have preferred Bell Ribeiro-Addy  to have made the ballot, Lucy’s contributions did suggest she is attempting to engage with members seriously. Having a voice from outside the Cabinet is clearly beneficial for members, councillors and MPs who want to hold the party to account. It was also positive that she attended the whole meeting and engaged in the debate.

General Secretary’s Report

The GS asked the Treasurer to give a report on the finances. Progress has been made since the start of the year to address the deficit but there is clearly some cause for concern and it was noted that 2026 will be more challenging than 2025 as we will have a smaller income base and a wider set of elections to fight. The Treasurer commented that the party needs to be leaner and more disciplined, with vacancy controls and recruitment only when necessary. There will be no scope for optional events, projects or expanding teams.

It was raised that if we lose a lot of councillors then local parties will lose money, and that the NEC Development Fund has unspent funds that could be well spent by CLPs.

Committees

We looked at committees for the year. Gemma Bolton was elected onto the Audit and Risk Committee. Ellie Reeves will be an NEC officer as she is the National Policy Forum Chair.

Presentation on Innovation, Field Data and Tech

Two staffers gave a presentation. They are going to be rolling out Labour One, which will replace the Labour Doorstep app. It will allow you to switch to phone calling if you don’t finish a round on the doorstep. As well as having lots of additional features, there will be changes in campaigning going forward as the nature of elections is more online. We will be better equipped for a different fight at the next general election, with online and community campaigns. We have to change how we respond on the doorstep, as we can’t simply be aware of where our vote is, and knocking people up on the day, but need to have conversations with the strapline Listen, Change, Win, that is, persuasive conversations. The Party compared themselves to Kamala Harris’s campaign and said it was better in digital terms.

NEC and Conference Timelines

The NEC considered its own schedule and the Annual Conference and Internal Ballots Timetable for 2026, which were mostly agreed. However, the trade unions spoke against the deadline for contemporary motions which is due to be before the TUC Conference, preventing them from discussing contemporary motions there.

The Labour Students and Young Labour committee elections will be held in the spring so that they are in place in time for freshers’ fairs, etc. The NEC elections will take place, as usual, over the summer. National Policy Forum CLP rep elections will take place at Conference, following the rule change this year, making left delegations all the more important. The Conference will take place from Sunday 27th September until Wednesday 30th September 2026 in Liverpool. The deadline for nominations for all positions is 12 noon on Friday 26th June 2026.

Annual Women’s Conference

This paper was perhaps the most important of the day, but puzzlingly, yet typically, it was last on the agenda, when everyone was tired and ready to go home. The paper set out the difficulties in ensuring we are compliant with the Labour rule book in having a Women’s Conference and also with the new Supreme Court judgement defining women by their sex at birth. The paper concluded by offering three options:

1. To hold a Women’s Conference the day before Annual Conference, which would only allow women delegates who fit within the Supreme Court ruling. However, the women’s fringe events would be open to all regardless of sex at birth. This option was recommended by the Party.
2. To have a Women’s Conference and fringe open only to women who fit the Supreme Court ruling definition.
3. To have no Women’s Conference at all.

All options are deeply unsatisfactory. Gemma noted that this was a really serious topic and while some of those in attendance might feel it was a small decision, it will have a major impact on certain groups and how they relate to our Party. She said she was passionate about Women’s Conference, having spent several years on the Women’s Conference Arrangements Committee and would not want to see it cancelled. However, the options needed significantly more thought and alternatives explored. She said she had deep concerns over how the options 1 or 2 could be enforced as it could easily become an issue where people police appearance or even ask for birth certificates. Staff raised issues after last Women’s Conference about how they were spoken to as staff members and Gemma had deep concerns about safeguarding staff who are having to police the event. All options presented also once again sideline the Women’s Conference as a fringe event to Annual Conference with insufficient time for democratic policy-making. As left CLP reps, we continue to call for a two-day Women’s Conference in Spring – the weak case made for an Annual Conference tag-on remains totally flawed.

After Gemma had spoken, trade unionists raised concerns regarding their inclusive women’s policies and felt that, if such a Conference were to go ahead, they would be unlikely to be able to send delegations. It is worth noting that there was no option to vote against. Option 1 therefore passed with 18 votes, with no votes for Options 2 or 3. Eleven members abstained in all (there being no option to vote against), including the trade union delegates and left CLP reps.