Young Labour equalities posts won by three Momentum, one Labour to Win

Four new Young Labour officers have been elected to equalities posts on the national committee in results that have handed victory to three Momentum-backed candidates and one candidate endorsed by pro-leadership Labour to Win.

The YLNC contests took place via a one-member-one-vote (OMOV) ballot of party members under 27. Elections for the liberation posts have not been held since 2016 due variously to legal reasons, a general election and coronavirus.

Labour’s ruling body decided not to hold a Young Labour conference this summer for reasons relating to costs, logistics and complications presented by the pandemic. But the party was able to conduct an OMOV ballot instead.

Holding a conference had been a prerequisite to the liberation officer elections, as there were concerns over insufficient data on protected characteristics. Labour gathered more information to find a way through.

Young Labour national committee election results:

BAME officer

ALLEN Sheldon – 80
OKUD Abdullah – 203 – ELECTED
TESFAY Amen – 135

Disabled members officer

ALLEYNE-MCLAUGHLIN Leon – 107
HARCUP Josh – 10
LAING Tom – 98
MALIK-SMITH Aisha – 197 – ELECTED

LGBT+ officer

CUTHBERTSON Solomon – 434
LEWIS Kira – 1,005 – ELECTED
PURCELL Owen – 178
ROBINSON Torr – 659

Women’s officer

ASHWORTH Grace – 612 – ELECTED
WOODROFFE-NORTHOVER Roshi – 503

Labour to Win had endorsed Kira Lewis for Young Labour LGBT+ officer, Sheldon Allen for BAME officer, Leon Alleyne-McLaughlin for disability officer and Roshi Woodroffe-Northover for women’s officer.

Labour left group Momentum supported Abdullah Okud for BAME officer, Aisha Malik-Smith for disability, Torr Robinson for LGBT+ and Grace Ashworth for women’s.

Reacting to the results, in which three Labour left candidates were successful, Momentum co-chair Gaya Sriskanthan said: “This latest left victory in the Young Labour equalities elections signals that the future of our party is firmly socialist.

“We will work closely with these fantastic young members to push for bold socialist and anti-racist solutions to the many challenges facing young people today, especially those from marginalised backgrounds. We have a future to fight for, and we are going to win.”

Luke Akehurst, a member of Labour’s ruling body and the secretary of Labour First, said: “Huge congrats to our brilliant staff member at Labour First, Kira Lewis, on a landslide victory in the ballot for Young Labour LGBT+ Officer”.