Simon Wright

With a bit of a delay, here is a report which covers the pre-conference NEC and conference in Liverpool.

As you know, the main issue for Societies was the outcome of Refounding Labour. As we discussed many times, our main objective was to increase the role of Socialist Societies in policy-making and to promote our role as a bridge between the Party and our communities and sectors. Through the written submissions we made, through the meetings we all attended (including the last-minute one with Ed Miliband and Peter Hain) and through raising the issue at NEC meetings, I think, collectively, we managed to get some positive outcomes for our Societies.

I argued that every Society should have an automatic place on the National Policy Forum, but this got tied up in the deadlock between the leadership and the unions and it was not possible to discuss any significant changes that would have upset the balance of votes. Instead I concentrated on getting all Societies ex-officio status. Despite verbal agreements at NEC, the phrase did not get used until I kept pushing for it and the amended rules now state that all Societies not otherwise represented will have this. While I committed that Societies would self-fund their participation, this should mean a very different level of engagement for our groups. We need to keep an eye on how it turns out but I hope all Societies to take maximum advantage of it and insert themselves fully into the NPF processes. In particular, with the rule change saying that all NPF members should be part of a policy commission, the door should be open for each Society to contribute this way too.

Thanks to effective lobbying by LGBT Labour, the issue of their representation on both the NEC and the NPF came onto the agenda. At Equalities Committee, I pushed hard that the same principle should apply to Labour Party Disabled Members' Group and got the backing of the Committee. However, both groups got left out of the final discussions. I talked to the unions and got their support so that, at the NEC on 20 September, I was able to propose an amendment to give both groups a new NPF position. This was supported by the whole NEC and Conference.

A change that I had been concerned about was the move to one member, one vote in the affiliates section of leadership elections. This was carried and does mean that, in the next leadership election, we will have a job to do to persuade our members to vote through us rather than through their trade union. The new supporters' network voting was put in a new  separate section of the electoral college. Another change that potentially has an impact is the new rights of Young Labour and the Association of Labour Councillors to have the status of affiliates in conference and other fora. I think that there ought to be a stronger division between external organisations that choose to affiliate to the Party and sections of the Party membership that need a stronger voice; something we will have to watch in future.

Also agreed at conference was an accompanying Refounding Labour report which gives many of the intentions and directions for Refounding Labour but which did not require rule changes. In this, there are many endorsements of the role of the Societies in policy-making and the importance of reaching out beyond the Party's membership to develop our future policies. There are many things here that we can take advantage of and make sure they are applied. As I have said a few times, I think the whole Refounding Labour process was too rushed to have the ambitious outcomes I thought were necessary to build a modern political party but overall, we can be pleased at how the Societies have come out of it.

I should also note that I was appointed one of the Assistant Chairs for the Liverpool conference and enjoyed chairing the Britain in the World and the Health reports and a Policy Seminar. I was able to ensure that many Societies got called to speak for their relevant debates.

It has been a great honour to represent the Socialist Societies on the NEC and I want to thank you all for your support, both last year and this year. Clearly what happened subsequently was a shock and not the outcome that the Societies wanted. However it is now important that the views of all the Societies continue to be represented. I wish Conor the best for this and am sure he will work hard to consult and represent the views of all our Societies in the next period.