“As Tony Benn once pointed out, these are not cold constitutional points, but fundamental to the cause of democracy.”
By David Beadle, Campaign for Labour Party Democracy
Enabling members to select candidates and make policy is essential to a healthy, vibrant and inspiring Labour Party. Without democracy within the Party we risk becoming out of touch with the hopes, needs, and concerns of the communities we serve.
The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD) was formed in 1973 to defend Annual Conference as the Party’s sovereign decision-making body, and to hold our elected representatives accountable to the Party members they represent. We continue to collaborate with progressive campaigns within the Labour Party to ensure that the Party’s membership is genuinely represented in parliament and on Labour’s national bodies; we promote changes to the Rule Book which empower our members; and we co-ordinate motions submitted to Conference to ensure our voice is heard.
As Tony Benn once pointed out, these are not cold constitutional points, but fundamental to the cause of democracy, both in the labour movement and in wider society.
Celebrating our fight for Party democracy for the last 50 years, CLPD has just published its annual Campaign Briefing, containing 24 pages of articles on a wide range of policy issues, briefings on this year’s Annual Conference, updates on internal Party democracy, and more details of what we stand for and how you can get more involved. It can be accessed here and hard copies are available on request.
- Dave Beadle is a member of the Campagign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD) Executive and Editor of CLPD’s Campaign Briefing.
- You can read the 50th anniversary Campaign Briefing edition here.
- You can follow the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy on Facebook and twitter.
