Labour NEC elections: Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance unveils slate

The Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance is backing four candidates in this year’s elections to Labour’s national executive committee, all four of whom are sitting members of the party’s governing body.

The CLGA – an umbrella group of organisations on the left of the party – is supporting the same four candidates in the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) rep section that it backed in the last set of elections in 2022: Jess Barnard, Gemma Bolton, Yasmine Dar and Mish Rahman.

Rahman said he was “proud to be supported by the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance and Momentum” and urged members to support his fellow CLGA-backed candidates.

He wrote in a post on X: “With a general election looming, I will work to deliver an election-winning party which will change the lives of millions for the better.

“That means supporting popular policies like a green new deal, public ownership, repealing anti-trade union laws, advancing migrants’ rights, defending human rights across the world and internationalist solidarity.”

The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy said on Monday it was supporting the four CLGA-backed candidates. The group said it was also recommending the nomination of sitting NEC member Ann Black “to maximise the support for party democracy on the NEC”.

Black – a long-serving member of the party’s ruling body – announced that she was restanding over the weekend, describing herself as a “principled, independent and accountable voice for members”.

“The general secretary once said that I make his life harder but the party better. Making the party better and keeping us on track for a Labour victory and a Labour government that changes people’s lives for the better will always be my priority,” she wrote in a post on X.

The elections will be seen on the left as a chance to hold on to some influence amid a wider retreat in recent years, and likewise an opportunity for the party leadership to cement its grip by displacing the CLGA-backed representatives.

The 2022 elections saw candidates backed by the pro-Keir Starmer group Labour to Win increase their representation in the NEC’s CLP section to four, as well as gaining the youth rep position and retaining the BAME rep and Welsh rep positions.

Labour to Win announced its slates for this year’s internal elections last week, revealing many of its candidates for the NEC, national policy forum (NPF) and national constitutional committee (NCC).

Open Labour co-chair Tessa Milligan told LabourList last week that the soft left group would be balloting its members “soon” on its endorsements for the elections.

Nominations opened for elections to the NEC, NPF and NCC on January 12th and will close on June 28th.

In the NEC CLP section, there are nine positions to be elected, at least four of which must be filled by women. Candidates must receive at least five nominations from local Labour Parties to be included on the ballot, which will take place in July/August.

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