Consensus will oppose factionalism and try to bring people together

In September 2015, five committed members of the Party made their way to Brighton for the annual Labour Party Conference. Like most party conference attendees, we were full of excitement and anticipation at a week packed with political discussion, especially given the new leadership in the party.

But we found that our sense of ambition and optimism was not widely shared at Conference.

Instead, we discovered a deeply fractured movement; one struggling to reconcile itself to its new leadership. Members were seeking safety under the banners of various factions, making it clear that working across differences was the last thing on their mind. At worst, party members would heckle each other, in a progressively scathing tone. At times, it felt we had forgotten who the real enemy was.

Since Conference, things have not improved; the general public has been witnessing Labour Party members openly denouncing each other for several months.

Our great party cannot go on like this.

We cannot advance a coherent counter-argument to this Government if we are internally divided along factional lines. The Conservatives have benefited enormously from Labour’s decision to fight internal ideological and policy battles.

Conference and the ensuing fractious months made us realise just how threatened Labour’s future was — as a united and intellectually inclusive movement.

In response, we have founded Consensus: a non-factional and rigorously inclusive platform for building consensus on key issues for the Labour movement. Your immediate response may be: “Not another new group”. Many have sprung up in the last year.

But Consensus is uniquely different, and can bring something valuable to our party. As a wholly non-aligned group, we provide an open platform for all the strands of thinking within the Labour movement. Our aim is to create a space within Labour that does not discriminate based on political beliefs or outlooks; one which fosters free and courteous expression and constructive dialogue. Remembering that we’re more similar than we are different is very much part of our ethos.

You will see this illustrated in the breadth and diversity of speakers we will host over the coming year, and in the topics we explore. It is our principal objective to help build a compelling story for the Labour movement — one that we can unite around for electoral success in 2020.

Our five founding committee members embody the sort of debate we want to advocate: we variously work or are involved with groups as diverse as Momentum, the Fabians, and Progress.

Consensus will be officially launching on the evening of Tuesday April 12. Our speakers will include Jon Cruddas MP, Councillor Sam Tarry (TSSA/Momentum), Seema Malhotra MP, and Stephen Kinnock MP. The event will be chaired by Beth Foster-Ogg, one of our founding committee members, who is a Momentum activist.

We warmly invite all members of the Labour movement to attend, and to help us shape this exciting new platform.

In his conference speech, Jeremy called for an inclusive debate within the party — because no one has a monopoly on ideas or thinking.

Join Consensus to be a part of this important debate.

Rayhan Haque, Stefanie Lehmann, Alex Chai, Beth Foster-Ogg and Martin Edobor are founding committee members of Consensus.