Support the Grassroots voice on the NEC
Don’t Leave, Organise is urging full support for the Grassroots Voice slate of six socialist candidates for the CLP places on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party.
Recent history demonstrates the cost of disunity on the left. In April, we lost two places on the NEC, at least in part because of the absence of an agreed left slate. This setback prompted more collaborative working and, despite the imperfections of the slate-making process, we managed to agree a list of six good socialists, backed by Jeremy Corbyn, the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, the Bakers Food & Allied Workers’ Union (BFAWU), the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), and the 13 organisations grouped under the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance (CLGA) umbrella.
There is much to do to make slate-building more transparent and democratic in the future, engaging the whole of the Labour left – but for the moment our immediate priorities are to secure nominations for the Grassroots Voice candidates and then to get them elected.
Even though there are nine CLP places up for election, and even though there are other socialists standing, the complexities of the new Single Transferable Vote (STV) system make it imperative that we maintain a united focus on the slate of six.
The #GrassrootsVoice Six are:
Gemma Bolton, from Mid-Sussex Labour, co-chair of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and a member of the SE Regional Board;
Yasmine Dar, a Manchester City councillor, also representing the CLP section of the party on the NEC since 2018;
Ann Henderson, from Edinburgh, a member of Campaign for Socialism and a strong advocate for members on the NEC since 2018;
Nadia Jama, a community and union activist, a member of Sheffield Labour Friends of Palestine and Orgreave Truth & Justice campaign;
Laura Pidcock, former North West Durham MP a great campaigner and powerful, socialist voice;
Mish Rahman, a Walsall-based activist who is also on Momentum’s NCG.
We believe these six will bring integrity to representing the party membership on the NEC. They all have a record of campaigning for a socialist leadership of the party and empowering the grassroots. Importantly, they have all signed up to a statement of principles which supports “natural justice, transparency, accountability and fairness in internal processes” within the Labour Party. They are committed to a party which works “For the Many, Not the Few.”
