Labour goes quiet on membership data after LabourList reports falling numbers

Labour officials have stopped regularly sharing membership data with the party’s national executive committee, after LabourList reported on falling numbers of members earlier this year.

Labour will no longer update the NEC every two months, LabourList understands, though it will continue to share data annually with the Electoral Commission, remaining more transparent than some other political parties.

LabourList revealed in February the party had lost more than one in ten members since the general election with the party losing the equivalent of one member every ten minutes between December and February.

Three left-wing Constituency Labour Party representatives on the NEC voiced alarm at the time, linking it to controversial decisions like winter fuel cuts, and some opposition parties also seized on the data.

In the latest NEC meeting this week, the reps questioned why no membership data had been shared at that or the previous meeting in March. They report being told it would no longer be shared due to the risk of leaks.

Jess Barnard, Gemma Bolton and Yasmine Dar called the decision “unprecedented” and said it was “a common and healthy practice” for reps to share numbers with members.

They said in their written account of the meeting they voiced concerns about the “political direction of the Party hemorrhaging party members”, given the impact on revenue and members’ role connecting the party to “communities it is there to represent”.

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Political parties are under no duty to publish membership data, and there is no formal definition of membership or body formally tasked with monitoring it.

A House of Commons research paper has noted this means ” the quality of available data varies between parties and over time”.

It has also has pointed out previously that the Tories do not produce systematic membership estimates, and have only released it “infrequently”.

It added: “This reluctance to publish estimates could be due to the structure of the party and the process of individuals becoming full members. An alternative explanation (which can also be applied to other parties) is they do not want to disclose membership figures for political reasons.”

Reform figures have claimed the party has seen sizeable membership growth in recent years, though it has also been embroiled in political rows over numbers.

Labour was approached for comment.

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