What happened at Labour’s NEC post-election ‘away day’

Labour’s national executive committee held its delayed ‘away day’ – the first full post-conference meeting – yesterday, which saw NEC members presented with analysis of the general election campaign and result. There was a report by Andrew Gwynne and Ian Lavery that put the blame mainly on Brexit. There was another report on the work of community organisers, who were given full credit for victories in Sheffield Hallam and Putney. The leaked document didn’t seem to acknowledge the crucial contributions of other hard-working campaigners.

With several easily identifiable inaccuracies (e.g. Glasgow South is not Labour-held) and a defensive tone, it prompted much criticism from NEC members. This situation puts community organisers in a tricky position – as always happens with party staff – because they cannot defend themselves in public. But critics say COs were used as a factional tool, and as a result there were often poor relations between them and regional offices. There is no use shutting down that discussion if Labour’s top campaign priority is effectiveness.

The ruling body was also given a membership update: the party now has over 580,000 members – an all-time record, NEC members were told. It will be interesting to see how this surge affects the leadership contests. Anecdotal reports from local parties suggest that these new members are mostly Corbynsceptics, including many rejoiners, seeking to reshape the party with a vote for Keir Starmer.

It’s not just new ordinary members either: Labour has two new NEC members. GMB has appointed a new rep, as exclusively revealed by LabourList, and he had a remarkably swift rise to NEC officer in his first meeting. Unite has also replaced influential Jim Kennedy with Howard Beckett, known as a strong Jeremy Corbyn backer firmly on the Labour left. Of course, there are also three NEC by-elections coming up, which we will be updating you on very soon.

Fresh local party nominations last night saw Starmer go up nine, despite being way ahead of his rivals and already on the ballot paper. He was also nominated by Labour Movement for Europe, along with Ian Murray. Lisa Nandy had a good evening, smashing James Frith’s #MarginalSeatTest with nominations from both Bury CLPs. It was a close result in Bury South: Rebecca Long-Bailey won the first round, but she received 49 votes in the final round compared to 53 for Nandy. It helped that Nandy grew up in Bury. Worth noting also that members backed Nandy and Rayner, but also two Labour lefties – Mo Azam and Mehmood Mirza – for the NEC. Will the NEC by-election results align factionally with the picks for leadership posts?

While Angela Rayner, like Starmer, continues to rack up nominations far beyond the required threshold, others in the deputy race need a look-in. Richard Burgon has announced that he would fight for Labour to adopt a new ‘Clause IV’ that once again reflects a commitment to public ownership. Dawn Butler appeared on Novara Media’s Tysky Sour, where she talked about writing notes to Corbyn during PMQs (“say it Jeremy!”) and said Labour MPs should “get with the programme or hit the curb” (i.e. be suspended if they publicly criticise the leadership). Asked for advice that Corbyn could have taken from Tony Blair, she replied: “Have some really good advisors.” The deputy hopeful, who needs 19 more local party nominations, didn’t hold back in the chat show and showed off her wit.

More news is expected from Long-Bailey’s campaign tonight, as she is doing an event in Leeds. As always, keep a close eye on LabourList for essential updates.

• Today: PMQs
• Today/Thursday: FBU leadership candidate nominations
• Thursday: CWU leadership candidate nominations
• Friday: UK leaves the EU (11pm)
• Saturday: Party hustings in Bristol
• Sunday: Party hustings in Cardiff