NEC vote was not a “runaway left victory”, leading centrist tells backers

The triumph of the left slate in elections to Labour’s ruling body has not handed complete control to Jeremy Corbyn and his allies, a leading centrist insists today.

Luke Akehurst, who lost his place on the national executive committee (NEC) this week despite more than doubling his vote, says there is a “net change of just one seat” and denies claims that Corbynistas now permanently hold the upper hand.

Akehurst, a former councillor in Hackney in east London, admits the results were “clearly disappointing” for his wing of the party but strikes a defiant tone in an article for LabourList when he says: “This isn’t the runaway left victory it is being portrayed as.”

The results, declared on Monday evening, showed all of the candidates on the left wing Centre Left Grassroots Alliance (CLGA) slate – supported by the Campaign for Labour Party (CLPD) and Momentum – were elected, while nobody from the Progress and Labour First slate made it on.

Akehurst goes on to highlight the role of long-serving trade union representatives as well as NEC members such as Ann Black, who has strong support on the left but is not considered a Corbynista.

“Contrary to some of the online and media reaction, this does not give full control of the NEC to Corbyn. There is a net change of just one seat as the PLP section saw a seat go from left to right”, he writes.

“When the new NEC takes office after Annual Conference, the solid vote for the Hard Left will be 16 if they all turn up, with 17 others. Thus NEC meetings will continue to be finely balanced and hinge on the personal decisions of the more independent-minded members like Ann Black, and the stance taken by the GMB and Unison. Moderates will win some votes and lose others just like we did in the pre-leadership election meeting.”

Akehurst, who is part of the Labour First grouping allied to Tom Watson, also suggests he will reach out more in future to other non-aligned candidates in internal elections when he raises the role of comedian and Labour activist Eddie Izzard, who did not run as part of the left or centrist slate but who has campaigned with a series of MPs and former ministers.

“If we can avoid a split moderate vote in future contests (Eddie Izzard ran as an independent when we would have been happy to support him if he had asked us) that will help!”, said Akehurst.