Momentum Renewal: The Labour left needs to focus on party branches

Over the past few years, Momentum has focused much of its energies into organising the left for the key institutions of power in Labour – the national executive committee (NEC), parliamentary selections and conference delegates. Those were absolutely the right priorities for Momentum during those first heady years with limited resources and under intense strain – and there have been some fantastic victories.

The left has dominated conference each year since Jeremy Corbyn was elected. We have won every internal one-member-one-vote election until our split slate during the last NEC election. We helped push through the democracy review, a huge piece of work that will transform selections across the party. We have made huge gains in regional party structures – all in the face of a hostile establishment that tried to destroy our movement from the outset. And in parliamentary selections, we have won in 55% of all contests where we endorsed a candidate.

The work done in that period has left us with a continued presence in the structures and internal life of the Labour Party, even now that Corbyn is gone. But whilst it was completely correct to focus our attention on those issues, what has happened since is that other areas of the movement have been neglected. From Momentum’s perspective, this primarily means the branches – the lifeblood of our movement – where most of our activists interact on a day-to-day basis with the Labour Party.

It is local branches that are the keys to all other institutions of power in Labour: local branches control the predominantly delegate-led Constituency Labour Party (CLP) structures, and CLPs in turn dominate local campaigning priorities and messaging. Branches and CLPs elect delegates to local policy forums, the bodies in control of campaigning. CLPs elect candidates to the regional boards, the bodies that oversee selection and vetting processes for councillors and MPs. Without a base in branches and CLPs, it is impossible to get candidates selected for either the local council or constituency.

During the early membership surge under Corbyn, many Labour members for the first time came face-to-face with often decaying branch structures and hostile local branch executives. Local party structures remain a bastion for the Labour right – a bottleneck preventing members engaging fully in the life of our party. Dominated by complicated bureaucratic processes, ‘freeze dates’ for elections to multiple different board and committees, and a complex rulebook with often opaque or deliberately withheld standing order books, it’s this battleground more than any other which stymied the left’s progress in the Labour Party. And yet for the last few years, Momentum nationally has been almost entirely absent in this arena.

For me, this has been the biggest failing of our organisation – though an understandable one. Momentum nationally has been buried deep inside the machinery of the leader of the opposition’s office, prioritising the long-term strategic goals of the organisation and propping up the leadership. That has been a time-consuming and resource-intensive exercise, and building our branches has taken second place. But now – cut off from the leader’s office but retaining our influence and a membership organisation of several tens of thousands – this is the time we need to seriously refocus our strength in helping socialist Labour members organise and mobilise at the coal face.

I am currently standing for Momentum’s national coordinating group (NCG) on the Momentum Renewal slate and, if elected, refocusing our party towards the branches will be one of my top priorities. Momentum Renewal has already committed to relocating our office to the North of England – an essential element in a strategy to break from the sociology and mindset of the London bubble. However the process of strengthening our branch organisation must go much further than that.

I have been heartened to see the development of Momentum’s national councillor network in recent years – one that now spans the length and breadth of the country. Councillors are vital in transforming local parties: as the representatives of local members, they can interact and communicate with the membership, lead on local campaigns and adopt natural leadership positions in their parties. This network continues to grow – and as it does, we will be able to further coordinate councillor activities linking Labour to communities and rebuilding trust with our voters.

To complement this work, I would like to see Momentum engaging far more in the development of policy for Labour. Due to the structure of our policymaking, member engagement with policymaking is one of the best mechanisms to spark debate in local branches, bring the left together around key issues and engage members with national politics. Momentum should be using radical policy initiatives far more to lobby those in power – but also to mobilise members around practical discussions, and engage them with the functions of Labour. From the top of the organisation, I would like to see regular engagement with our members on policy ideas – with key strategic policy goals drawn up on an annual basis and a concerted effort to push key policies through conference.

In relation to this, Momentum must be far more attuned to local government politics and we should be leading campaigns on local political issues. Members need to be given the resources and capacity to respond to local events, recruiting new members to Labour and engaging in grassroots campaigns which unite us with other groups like ACORN and trade unions. Momentum should be the go-to gateway for dedicated community and Labour activists into the Labour Party – and into local government.

Activist education and training is also essential if we are to maintain a large network of activists operating in our party. To navigate Labour’s procedures, but also to learn transferable organisational skills, build confidence and take on local leadership roles in our movement.

If Momentum successfully builds our party branches, they will be a solid foundation for the left to continue to grow in Labour – a foundation less vulnerable to the twists and turns of national politics and national elections. For us to continue to thrive, there can’t be a better place to start.