Who are the Labour affiliates?

As Lucy Powell and Bridget Phillipson battle it out to become the next Labour deputy leader, the race has now entered the second nomination stage, where the candidates have to get nominations from either five per cent of constituency Labour parties (CLPs) or three affiliated organisations – two of which must be trade unions.

With just two candidates in the race, it is highly likely that both will manage to meet the five percent threshold. There are 632 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales (as Labour does not stand candidates in Northern Ireland, there is one CLP representing the nation). This means that each candidate will need to be nominated by 32 CLPs to pass the threshold. While not every CLP will nominate, this threshold should not be hard for both candidates to reach – though they will both also want to exceed it to demonstrate broad support.

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The affiliation nominations are possibly more complex as each organisation has its own internal rules, procedures and practices. However, Phillipson has already received the backing of Community and Usdaw, meaning she would only need the backing of one more union or one socialist society to be automatically on the final ballot, even before many CLPs have met to nominate. Powell has yet to receive backing from an affiliate.

Labour’s Affiliated Unions

The trade union movement was part of the founding of the Labour Party and, as such, has always played an important part in its internal democracy. At present, there are 11 unions affiliated to Labour and these vary in size and in their political approach to the Party.

Unions on the whole are seen as more left wing than the party – though this is, in part, due to the fact that when unions hit the headlines it it because either they are taking industrial action or they are in conflict with the Party’s leadership. This is, in reality, just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to union activity.

In the main, Labour members understand what unions do because they are engaged with their day to day activities. Union workplace support is rarely about strike action. Where unions are recognised by employers, they negotiate with management over terms, conditions and pay. Where they are not recognised, they offer individual support to their members. Increasingly as the shape of the workforce has changed, unions have changed with it, with more and more organising in less traditional way,s supporting freelance workers and offering a range of services from discounts at high street shops to funeral support.

The politics of the union movement change over time. Some unions that were traditionally seen as ‘moderate’ may have become more radical and vice versa. This is largely due to their democratic nature as their General Secretaries and executive committees are elected.

Different slates organise within the unions – often on explicitly political grounds, more to do with the leadership of the Labour Party than the union. However, this can backfire. For example, in 2021, much of the coverage of the race to replace Len McCluskey as General Secretary of Unite boiled the contest down to the competing vision for the relationship the union had with the Labour Party of left-wing candidate Steve Turner and moderate candidate Gerard Coyne. In the end, the contest was won by Sharon Graham, in part on a promise of making the union less focused on the internal politics of the Labour Party.

Unions and Labour may have a fractious relationship. Some may well find themselves at odds with Labour in government (both locally and nationally). But the union link is one that is still treasured by the vast majority of Labour Party members. Unions may often feel unloved and unheard to by Labour leaders (of all politics as each leader will have unions they have more in common with – the labour movement is no more monolithic than the Labour Party) but they are also people whose jobs are built on the art of negotiation – and, as such, usually want to remain at the table as best as possible. With 13 reserved union places on Labour’s National Executive Committee and 55 places on the National Policy Forum – the unions remain an important part of Labour’s constitutional arrangement.

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Labour’s Socialist Societies

Most people, be they Labour – or indeed union – members or not, have at least a rough sense of what a union is and what they do. This is less true of the 20 socialist societies affiliated to the party.

Socialist societies generally fall into two categories – they are groups formed through communities of interest, such as Labour Housing Group or SERA (Labour’s Environment Campaign), or communities of identity, such as LGBT Labour or BAME Labour.

The exception to this is the Fabian Society, which is both a think tank and membership organisation (full disclosure, I worked for them and SERA until coming to LabourList). The Fabians predate Labour and worked with the union movement to found the party. However, the constitution of the Fabian Society means that they do not adopt factional positions so on the whole have abstained from nominating candidates or voting on internal Labour Party matters.

While they are considerably smaller than the unions, socialist societies do carry some weight in internal elections as they can nominate candidates. Outside of elections, they work to either increase representation of groups within the Party through campaigning for rule changes and providing training (Labour Women’s Network – who don’t take policy positions – have been influential through both of these) or by campaigning internally for the adoption of policy. Socialist Societies have one seat on the NEC. When that body is finely balanced, that role has often been pivotal.

They also have six representatives on the National Policy Forum, and it may be in this body that the socialist societies have their greatest influence. These groups are dedicated to offering understanding through lived experience and deep levels of professional policy knowledge to the party. This expertise can sometimes be underutilised but has, over the years, been invaluable in developing policies that have been part of Labour’s manifestos and programmes for government.

Broad church

Many people have come to Labour politics through their union (not least, the previous Deputy Leader) and not a few through engagement with socialist societies. While this stage of the contest is unlikely to throw up any controversies and both candidates will likely proceed to the member’s vote, it is, however, a useful reminder that the Labour Party is not just a ‘broad church’ in terms of the views of its members, supporters and voters but also in terms of the different ways it is possible to get involved.

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