National Executive Committee
Headquarters | London, England |
---|---|
Chair | Glenis Willmott |
Vice-Chair | TBD |
Parent organisation | Labour Party |
Website | Labour’s National Executive Committee |
The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the chief administrative body of the Labour Party. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party, constituency Labour parties, and socialist societies, as well as ex officio members such as the Party Leader and Deputy Leader and several of their appointees.
During the 1980s, the NEC had a major role in policy-making and was often at the heart of disputes over party policy. In the Tony Blair era, the committee's role declined and its membership was reformed, but it remains the administrative authority of the party. Its former policy development function is now largely carried out by the National Policy Forum. One of its committees has disciplinary powers including the ability to expel members of the party who have brought it into disrepute or to readmit previously expelled members.
The Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the People's History Museum in Manchester has the full run of the minutes of the National Executive Committee in their collection.[1][2]
Membership
As of Annual Conference 2016, the NEC has 35 members elected from the following constituencies:
- 1: Leader of the Labour Party
- 1: Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
- 1: Treasurer
- 3: Opposition Front Bench (MPs nominated by the Shadow Cabinet)
- 1: EPLP Leader
- 1: Young Labour
- 12: Trade Unions
- 2: Socialist Societies and BAME Labour
- 6: CLPs
- 2: Labour Councillors
- 3: PLP/EPLP (Backbench MPs and/or MEPs elected by all Labour MPs and MEPs)
- 2: Scottish Labour and Welsh Labour
In addition, the Chief Whip of the Labour Party (currently Nick Brown MP and the Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party (currently John Cryer MP) attend ex officio without a vote.
The General Secretary of the Labour Party acts as the non-voting secretary to the NEC.
Current members
- Leader of the Labour Party
- Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
- Tom Watson MP
- Treasurer
- Opposition Front Bench
- EPLP Leader
- Glenis Willmott MEP (Chair)[6]
- Young Labour
- Jasmin Beckett
- Trade Unions
- Keith Birch (UNISON)
- Jamie Bramwell (UCATT)
- Jennie Formby (UNITE)
- Andi Fox (TSSA)
- Jim Kennedy (Unite)[7]
- Andy Kerr (CWU)
- Paddy Lillis (USDAW)
- Martin Mayer (UNITE)
- Pauline McCarthy (BFAWU)
- Wendy Nichols (UNISON)
- Cath Speight (GMB)
- Mary Turner (GMB)
- Socialist Societies and BAME Labour
- James Asser (Socialist Societies)
- Keith Vaz MP (BAME Labour)
- CLPs
- Ann Black
- Christine Shawcroft
- Claudia Webbe[6]
- Darren Williams
- Pete Willsman
- Rhea Wolfson[6]
- Labour Councillors
- Cllr Nick Forbes[6]
- Cllr Alice Perry
- PLP/EPLP
- Scottish Labour and Welsh Labour
- Kezia Dugdale MSP (Leader of the Scottish Labour Party)[6]
- Alun Davies AM (Welsh Labour Representative)[9]
Chair of the Labour Party
The chair of the party is elected by the NEC from among its own members, and holds office for a calendar year, chairing both NEC meetings and national party conferences.
The name of this post has become confused since 2001 when Labour Party leader Tony Blair appointed Charles Clarke to the courtesy position of "Party Chair" without the NEC or the national conference authorising such a position.[10] The office's name remains "chair of the party" in the Labour Party Constitution, but elsewhere the party presents the position as "Chair of the NEC".[11] Prior to 2001 the position was called "Chair of the Labour Party", and before that "Chairman of the Labour Party".
List of Chairs of the Party
(Information taken from British Political Facts 1900–1994, Butler & Butler 1994, pp. 144–5, the period down to 1993)
Chairmen of the Annual Conference of the Labour Representation Committee[12]
- 1900: William Charles Steadman MP
- 1901: John Hodge
- 1902: William John Davis
- 1903: Joseph Nicholas Bell
- 1904: John Hodge
- 1905: Arthur Henderson MP
Chairmen of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Representation Committee[13]
- 1900: William Charles Steadman MP
- 1901: Allan Gee
- 1902: Richard Bell MP
- 1903: John Hodge
- 1904: David J. Shackleton
- 1905: Arthur Henderson MP
Chairmen of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party[14]
- 1906: Arthur Henderson MP
- 1907: J. J. Stephenson
- 1908: Walter Hudson MP
- 1909: John Robert Clynes MP
- 1910: Keir Hardie MP
- 1911: William Cornforth Robinson
- 1912: Ben Turner
- 1913: George Henry Roberts MP
- 1914: Tom Fox
- 1915: No conference held
- 1916: William Crawford Anderson MP
- 1917: George Wardle MP (acting)
- 1917–18: W. F. Purdy
- 1918–19: John McGurk
- 1919–20: William Harold Hutchinson
- 1920–21: Alexander Gordon Cameron
- 1921–22: Fred Jowett MP
- 1922–23: Sidney Webb MP
- 1923–24: Ramsay MacDonald MP
- 1924–25: Charlie Cramp
- 1925–26: Robert Williams
- 1926–27: Frederick Roberts MP[15]
- 1927–28: George Lansbury MP
- 1928–29: Herbert Morrison MP
- 1929–30: Susan Lawrence MP
- 1930–31: Stanley Hirst
- 1931–32: George Lathan MP
- 1932–33: Joseph Compton
- 1933–34: Walter R. Smith
- 1934–35: William Albert Robinson
- 1935–36: Jennie Adamson
- 1936–37: Hugh Dalton MP
- 1937–39: George Dallas (no conference in 1938)
- 1939–40: Barbara Gould
- 1940–41: James Walker MP
- 1941–42: Walter Henry Green MP[16]
- 1942–43: Alfred Dobbs
- 1943–44: George Ridley MP
- 1944–45: Ellen Wilkinson MP
- 1945–46: Harold Laski
- 1946–47: Philip Noel-Baker MP
- 1947–48: Emmanuel Shinwell MP
- 1948–49: Jim Griffiths MP
- 1949–50: Sam Watson
- 1950–51: Alice Bacon MP
- 1951–52: Harry Earnshaw
- 1952–53: Arthur Greenwood MP
- 1953–54: Wilfrid Burke MP
- 1954–55: Edith Summerskill MP
- 1955–56: Edwin Gooch MP
- 1956–57: Margaret Herbison MP
- 1957–58: Tom Driberg
- 1958–59: Barbara Castle MP
- 1959–60: George Brinham
- 1960–61: Richard Crossman MP
- 1961–62: Harold Wilson MP
- 1962–63: Dai Davies
- 1963–64: Anthony Greenwood MP
- 1964–65: Ray Gunter MP
- 1965–66: Walter Padley MP
- 1966–67: John McFarlane Boyd
- 1967–68: Jennie Lee MP
- 1968–69: Eirene White MP
- 1969–70: Arthur Skeffington MP
- 1970–71: Ian Mikardo MP
- 1971–72: Tony Benn MP
- 1972–73: William Simpson
- 1973–74: James Callaghan MP
- 1974–75: Fred Mulley MP
- 1975–76: Tom Bradley MP
- 1976–77: John Chalmers
- 1977–78: Joan Lestor MP
- 1978–79: Frank Allaun MP
- 1979–80: Lena Jeger
- 1980–81: Alex Kitson
- 1981–82: Judith Hart MP
- 1982–83: Sam McCluskie
- 1983–84: Eric Heffer MP
- 1984–85: Alan Hadden
- 1985–86: Neville Hough
- 1986–87: Syd Tierney
- 1987–88: Neil Kinnock MP
- 1988–89: Dennis Skinner MP
- 1989–90: Jo Richardson MP
- 1990–91: Tom Sawyer
- 1991–92: John Evans MP
- 1992–93: Tony Clarke
- 1993–94: David Blunkett MP
- 1994–95: Gordon Colling
- 1995–96: Diana Jeuda
- 1996–97: Robin Cook MP
- 1997–98: Richard Rosser
- 1998–99: Brenda Etchells
- 1999–00: Vernon Hince
- 2000–01: Maggie Jones
- 2001–02: Margaret Wall
- 2002–03: Diana Holland
- 2003–04: Mary Turner
- 2004–05: Ian McCartney MP
- 2005–06: Jeremy Beecham
- 2006–07: Michael Griffiths
- 2007–08: Dianne Hayter
- 2008–09: Cath Speight
- 2009–10: Ann Black
- 2010–11: Norma Stephenson
- 2011–12: Michael Cashman MEP
- 2012–13: Harriet Yeo
- 2013–14: Angela Eagle MP
- 2014–15: Jim Kennedy
- 2015–16: Paddy Lillis
- 2016–17: Glenis Willmott MEP
See also
References
- ↑ "Archive & Study Centre". People's History Museum. 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
- ↑ Collection Catalogues and Descriptions, People's History Museum
- ↑ Labour's National Executive Committee – The Labour Party
- ↑ "Corbynistas and rebels make NEC gains as Skinner steps down". LabourList. 2016-07-04. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
- ↑ Topping, Alexandra; Rawlinson, Kevin (7 October 2016). "Full shadow cabinet list revealed". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Conference liveblog: Welsh and Scottish Labour celebrate party reform victory". LabourList. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn's exclusion from Labour leadership vote would be 'sordid fix'". www.theguardian.com. The Guardian. 12 July 2016.
- ↑ Pope, Conor (4 July 2016). "Corbynistas and rebels make NEC gains as Skinner steps down". LabourList. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
- ↑ Pope, Conor (29 September 2016). "Labour's ruling body tilts away from Corbyn after new appointments". LabourList. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- ↑ Roy Hattersley (26 July 2001). "Blair mistook his Clarke for a chair". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
- ↑ "NEC committees". Labour Party. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
- ↑ 'British Political Facts 1900-1994', Butler & Butler 1994, PP144-5
- ↑ Kevin Jefferys, Leading Labour: From Keir Hardie to Tony Blair, p.4
- ↑ 'British Political Facts 1900-1994', Butler & Butler 1994, pp.144-5 for the period down to 1993
- ↑ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
- ↑ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.