Triumphant national executive reps vow to hand power back to Labour members

The newly elected members of Labour’s ruling body have vowed to hand party power back to members and deliver a huge expansion in community campaigning after they won a decisive victory over the centre-left candidates.

The three activists on the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance slate responded to yesterday’s overwhelming victory by promising to change the way the party is run.

Yasmine Dar, Jon Lansman and Rachel Garnham – all backed by Momentum and the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy – took the three new slots on the national executive committee, pushing pro-EU activists into fourth place.

Dar, a Manchester councillor, said she was “delighted, honoured and humbled” by the result.

“Thank you to all who voted for Me & my colleagues Jon & Rachel. Defending the core values of our party & Shifting the balance of power towards members is the way forward,” she wrote on Twitter.

Dar topped the ballot, followed by Lansman, the founding chair of Momentum, and then Garnham, a rep on the national policy forum.

Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly said he wants to turn Labour into a social movement. Today Lansman described the recent launch of Labour’s community campaign unit as a “hard fought victory” and called for a “massive expansion” of the model.

“For too long, politics has been top heavy and Westminster centric. If we want to transform society for the many, not the few we need a socialist Labour government that works in tandem with experienced activists, on the ground who understand their communities and are given the resources and training to transform them for the better.”

He cited examples of a Momentum-backed “food club” as a way activists had come together to help those in need.

“Expanding the [community organising] unit and rolling out community organising support across the country is the next, vital step towards a social movement style party, and I look forward to working with other NEC members to make it a strategic objective going forwards.”