NEC Election deadline & current state of nominations

The deadline for CLPs to nominate NEC candidates is fast approaching on 27 September.

We know that there are over 200 CLPs with nomination meetings scheduled in the next two weeks, so this is going to be an exceptionally busy and important period.

We are delighted to announce today that Labour to Win is recommending support for George Lindars-Hammond for Disabled Members Representative on the NEC. George is Cabinet Member for Social Care in Sheffield, a GMB member, and a passionate disability and Labour Party activist.

Please try to secure your CLP’s nominations for George, for incumbent Treasurer Diana Holland, and for our recommended candidates for the nine CLP representatives:

• Luke Akehurst - NEC member 2010-2012, former Chief Whip of Hackney Council and parliamentary candidate in Essex and Hampshire
• Johanna Baxter - NEC member, Cunninghame North CLP Chair, Scottish Executive Committee member
• Gurinder Singh Josan - NEC member, antiracism campaigner, Vice Chair of Sikhs for Labour, Sandwell Unite branch secretary
• Terry Paul - Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services on Newham Council and former PLP Campaigns Officer
• Michael Payne - Deputy Leader of Gedling Borough Council & Notts County Councillor; Deputy Leader of the LGA Labour Group
• Shama Tatler - Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning, Brent Council

Note - this is not necessarily the order you should preference the candidates, we'll send more detailed voting instructions closer to when the ballot drops.

In the interests of ensuring a politically pluralistic NEC, and to ensure gender and regional balance, Labour to Win is only standing six candidates itself, and also urging its supporters to vote for three other candidates, from the left of the party:

• Ann Black – Independent Left - NEC member 2000-2018 as part of the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance, South East Regional Board Member, Secretary of Oxford & District Labour Party
• Theresa Griffin – Tribune Group - MEP for the North West Region, 2014-2020
• Paula Sheriff – Tribune Group – MP for Dewsbury, 2015-2019

If you're a Labour Councillor, we also recommend you get your Labour Group to nominate both of these candidates for local government representatives:

• Nick Forbes - Leader of the LGA Labour Group and Newcastle City Council, incumbent NEC member
• Alice Perry - Islington Councillor and LGA Labour Group Deputy Chief Whip, incumbent NEC member

How is the battle for nominations going so far? 

The headline figures are that Momentum are ahead, but not by an insurmountable margin given there are hundreds of CLPs still to nominate. Our candidates already have more nominations than in 2018, with two weeks to go, and Momentum have lost many of the CLPs they won then. Here are the numbers from Friday, with our nine recommended candidates in bold:

Laura Pidcock Momentum  83

Ann Black Open Labour 81

Yasmine Dar Momentum 68

Gemma Bolton Momentum 67

Mish Rahman Momentum 65

Johanna Baxter Labour to Win 61

Nadia Jama Momentum 60

Gurinder Singh Josan  Labour to Win 59

Ann Henderson Momentum 56

Luke Akehurst Labour to Win 45

Theresa Griffin Tribune 38

Jermain Jackman Open Labour 36

Michael Payne Labour to Win 35

Terry Paul Labour to Win 31

Shama Tatler Labour to Win 30

Paula Sherriff Tribune 25

Crispin Flintoff Independent 16

Roger Silverman Labour Left Alliance 14

Vince Maple Independent 12

Liz McInnes Tribune 11

Cameron Mitchell Independent 11

Alex Beverley Independent 11

Another 12 candidates also have the required 5 nominations to get on the ballot.

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Things to bear in mind

• The final ballot is by Single Transferable Vote so it will award seats roughly proportionately between the factions – the days of one grouping taking all nine seats are gone.
• Any increase in our representation from the 2 of 9 seats we already hold strengthens the mainstream majority on the NEC as a whole.
• Over 100,000 new members who joined the party to vote for Keir, Lisa or Jess didn’t get a vote in the February NEC by-elections that saw Gurinder and Johanna narrowly win. They can now vote. And the Hard Left keep complaining that many of their supporters have quit the party …
• With every week of nominations, our position has got stronger compared to Momentum’s.
• Over 80% of the CLPs nominating our candidates are gains we didn't win in 2018.
• We are doing best in CLPs with All Member Meetings where the new members can vote, and Momentum are mainly holding on where there is a delegate GC system – AGM cancellations due to the General Election and COVID mean some GC delegates were elected at the height of Corbynism in 2018.
• We are doing best in the CLPs with the largest membership that will have the most voting members in the final ballot while many of Momentum’s nominations come from small CLPs.

Please redouble your efforts to get our team nominated by your CLP if it is one of the majority that hasn’t met yet, we are within touching distance of an important victory!

Luke Akehurst

Secretary Labour First
@lukeakehurst