As well as potentially giving Labour a huge advantage at the next general election, another advantage to the party of Nick Clegg’s boundary change u-turn is that an expensive and complex restructure of the party’s internal structures will no longer be neccessary.
Last week we noted that many CLPs would cease to exist in 2013 as the party planned for life under the new boundaries, but today’s announcement from the Deputy PM looks to have brought a halt to those plans.
LabourList understands that MPs were told today that things have changed as a result of Clegg’s announcement, and any potential reorganisation of CLPs is on hold, with the party circulating more information as a later date.
Yet it seems almost impossible that any form of CLP reorganisation could take place without boundary changes, and as it looks improbable (at least) that such changes will now take place, it’s safe to say that existing CLPs are likely to last through to the next election.
There will be many happy MPs (and activists) tonight, now that such a logistical nightmare has been avoided.
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