AMM motion defeated at Holborn and St Pancras Labour

Labour members in Holborn and St Pancras last night voted by 301 to 186 to keep the general committee (GC) delegate structure of their local party meetings rather than switch to all-member meetings (AMMs).

The special meeting was sparked by an AMM motion coming through to the executive committee from the Unite taxi branch. It was passed by an affiliated union despite trade unions having issued a joint message that advised delegates to pause AMM motions until further guidance from Labour’s national executive committee (NEC).

Turnout at the meeting was particularly high, with 489 ballots cast on the motion, including two abstentions. The other two local parties in London that have considered AMM motions since Labour conference had higher-than-usual turnouts, but lower numbers than Holborn and St Pancras (221 in Bermondsey and Old Southwark; 124 in Hampstead and Kilburn).

The biggest cheer heard during the AMM debate was for a speaker who encouraged local members to “start fighting the Tories and stop fighting each other”.

Camden New Journal deputy editor Richard Osley, who stood outside the room as he was not allowed to enter the members-only meeting, tweeted that well-known locals including Joan Bakewell, John Mills, Dame Jane Roberts, Geoffrey Robertson and Polly Toynbee were in attendance.

Keir Starmer’s local party held its AGM immediately after the AMM debate and a speech on Brexit by the MP. It was a clean sweep for the Corbynsceptic wing of the party.