A new general secretary and new local government powers

Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning.

Almost a month ago, Iain McNicol stood down as Labour’s general secretary after a “tumultuous seven years”. The party’s most senior employee since being appointed in 2011 under Ed Miliband’s leadership, McNicol saw difficulties around the 2016 leadership contest when he was accused of trying to block incumbent Jeremy Corbyn from getting on the ballot paper.

Those who haven’t forgiven him for that battle won’t have been surprised or sad to see a number of HQ officials resign yesterday, including compliance unit head John Stolliday and policy director Simon Jackson, plus London region’s Neil Fleming and PLP secretary Dan Simpson.

Some have already suggested that the party has just lost a wealth of talent, with decades of experience and institutional memory. Putting aside claims that top figures misjudged last year’s snap election and that their Corbynscepticism led to unambitious targets, there is no doubt that is true. But today the NEC is expected to select Jennie Formby for the post, and as a former political director of Unite, regional organiser and trade unionist for 40 years, there is also no doubt that the general secretary role and party machine will be in capable hands with Formby at the helm.

Sticking to LabourList’s local government theme this week, today council leaders publish their manifesto setting out what a Labour government would do ‘On Day One’, measured against ten ‘freedom tests’. The party’s local government leader Cllr Nick Forbes says councils should seek inspiration from groups and social movements such as Momentum and #MeToo to affect change.

A contributor to the report, Cllr Sharon Taylor has written for LabourList about the devastating impact that austerity has had on local communities and which steps should be taken to heal them. She reflects on the crises seen across the country – most acutely in “bankrupt” Tory-run Northamptonshire – and argues that there must be a “permanent shift in the balance of power”. Ultimately she is asking John McDonnell to trust in “local government’s democratic accountability, understanding of communities and experience of making every pound count”.

Sienna @siennamarla

Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning.