Voting opens in Momentum policy primary to agree conference motions

Voting in Momentum’s policy primary will begin later today in a process that will see its members decide which policies the organisation will support at the Labour Party annual conference due to take place in September this year.

The democratic exercise, in which voting will close on April 27th, will allow Momentum members to select which of the “transformative socialist ideas” the group will work to build support for ahead of conference.

A Momentum spokesperson told LabourList: “The country is crying out for an alternative to Tory ruin, but the Labour leadership are failing to step up.

“But grassroots members have the ideas to meet today’s crises head-on and Momentum’s second ever policy primary will help us shape these into a programme to take to Labour conference.”

20 motions have been submitted by local Momentum groups and campaigning organisations. Momentum’s national coordinating group has recommended that members support motions on “challenging the rightward drift on crime, policing and immigration”, public ownership and abolishing anti-trade union laws.

“Momentum’s local groups and campaigning organisations have proposed an array of popular and urgent policies, from a genuinely compassionate approach to migration, to public ownership of a failing energy sector,” the spokesperson added.

“If you’re not a member of Momentum, sign up today and vote on the policies you think the Labour Party should be campaigning for.”

Momentum co-chair Gaya Sriskanthan wrote for LabourList earlier this year, arguing that the policy primary “will give our movement a real opportunity to collectively come up with policy positions that respond to the political moment and build the coalitions we need to win with trade unions and civil society”.

Ahead of the 2021 conference, Momentum’s first policy primary resulted in the group supporting a £15 minimum wage, a change in the Westminster voting system to proportional representation, a four-day working week and five other policies.

Delegates last year voted in favour of the motion urging the party to raise the minimum wage to £15 per hour. The leadership has committed to raising the legal minimum to £10 per hour. See all the policies passed at the 2021 conference here.

Writing for LabourList this morning, John McDonnell MP urged the organisation’s members to “finish what we started in Brighton” and support a motion calling for the Labour Party to back proportional representation for general elections.

The motion was rejected at last year’s conference, despite 79.51% of Constituency Labour Party delegates supporting the policy, as trade union delegates voted against. McDonnell argued today that unions did not have the chance to hear motions on electoral reform ahead of conference due to Covid.

“Since then, debate has moved on within large parts of the trade union movement – including Unite, which came out firmly against the first-past-the-post system at its policy conference last autumn, a move welcomed by Sharon Graham. Other unions will discuss electoral reform in the coming weeks and months,” McDonnell wrote.

The motions for the policy primary were published on April 14th. Members have until April 27th to vote, after which point the national coordinating group “working in partnership with the wider left” will decide which motions to prioritise.