NEC Statement from Mainstream: ‘By the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone’

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“By the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone.” These words, enshrined in our party’s constitution and printed on all of our membership cards, capture the belief at the heart of Mainstream’s campaign for this year’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Policy Forum (NPF) elections.

When our party embraces pluralism, democracy and cooperation, the communities that we exist to serve prosper.

The creation of the NHS. Landmark climate and human rights legislation. Workers’ rights. Devolution and democratic reform. All of Labour’s most transformative achievements have one thing in common: they emerged from collaboration, partnership and exchange between democratic socialists, trade unionists, social democrats, co-operators, civil society and many others committed to social and economic justice.

Today, our party has drifted far from its historic commitment to internal pluralism and participation. Labour has become highly centralised, with direction determined from the top-down by an increasingly narrow set of voices. The risk of retribution has left members fearful of debate and dissent, forcing many members to leave the party or to disengage what feels like their only power – their time and money.

The consequences of this are twofold. First, a politics of elite privilege, corporate access and toxic factionalism that is fundamentally at odds with Labour’s founding vision and values has taken root. The unbelievable scandal of Peter Mandelson’s appointment as Ambassador to the US is the clearest example of this.

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Second, the top of the party has fallen out of step with its mainstream; with members, trade union and socialist society partners, and vast swathes of the Parliamentary Labour Party. This has had catastrophic repercussions. The link between Labour and the communities in which our wider movement is rooted has been severed. Decisions are being made in a sterile echo chamber with the inevitable mistakes that ensue. We have been deprived of the ideas, energy and talent to co-create a popular, principled and practical left politics that can transform the country with the consent of the public. We have ended up with missteps and missed opportunities, and the public now doubts our ability to deliver change.

This can’t go on. If it does, our collapse in the polls will worsen. If it does, Labour members will continue to leave in droves. If it does, we will ultimately pave the way for a Reform government in 2029.

To rise to the immense challenges of this present moment and transform the country, we must transform the Labour Party. This is not navel-gazing. We will only succeed in developing a strategy and programme to transform the country and win again in 2029 if we have new voices at the table, embrace debate on the economy, on climate, on foreign policy and more, energise members, listen to and organise in communities, and draw upon the strengths, talent and wisdom of our whole movement.

Change is both necessary and urgent. But it will only happen if we choose a different path.

That is what we are offering in this year’s internal elections. As your NEC representatives, we will champion a new politics rooted in democracy, pluralism, and participation. We will tirelessly defend the rights of members and affiliates at every level and in every section of our party, and campaign to give you the stake in our party that you deserve.

That means restoring genuinely open parliamentary, council, and other selections, ending the suspension of MPs for legitimate scrutiny of the Government, and moving away from the kind of needless, top-down control that prevents local members from choosing their own representatives and engaging in meaningful participation.

We want to see the party implement the recommendations of the Forde Report on party culture in full, stamp out factionalism, bullying and exclusion, and create two-way communication and new structures to empower members and facilitate the shaping of our party’s policies and political strategy together.

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We want to help the party to develop a plan to win back the members who have left us, and attract new members from every background and walk of life, so that we can become a genuinely powerful and cross-class movement for change once again.

But above all else, we want to turn a page and write a new chapter with you. We are standing for the NEC to take your voice to the very top of the Labour Party; to champion your interests, views and priorities. So we will report transparently on the workings of the party, hold power to account, and consult you regularly on the action you want to see from the NEC.

Each of us has different experiences to bring to the NEC: in local government, as parliamentary candidates, as members of trade unions and socialist societies, as environmentalists and as co-operators. Some of us have served on the NEC before, some of us are standing for the first time. We are a diverse and politically broad-based team of progressive Labour Party members, but we are united by an unwavering commitment to rediscovering our party’s democratic spirit and transformative potential.

The NEC, dominated by one tradition of the Labour Party, needs a shake-up. Without one, the missteps and missed opportunities will continue.

We seek your support in this year’s internal elections so that we can restore that most fundamental of Labour beliefs to the beating heart of our party – by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone – and make Labour a winning force for good once more.

READ MORE: 

Labour To Win statement
Momentum NEC statement
Restoration NEC statement

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