National Executive Committee (Labour Party)

National Executive Committee

Abbreviation	NEC
Formation	27 February 1900 (1900-02-27)
Headquarters	London, England
Chair	Ellie Reeves
Vice-Chair	Shabana Mahmood
Parent organisation	Labour Party

The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party, constituency Labour parties (CLP), and socialist societies, as well as ex officio members such as the party Leader and Deputy Leader and several of their appointees.

History

During the 1980s, the NEC had a major role in policy-making and was often at the heart of disputes over party policy.

In 1997, under Tony Blair's new party leadership, the General Secretary Tom Sawyer enacted the Partnership in Power reforms. This rebalanced the NEC's membership, including by reducing trade union membership to a minority for the first time in its history. The reforms also introduced new seats: two for local government, three for the Parliamentary Party, three for the (Shadow) Cabinet, and one for the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP). Until these reforms, Member of Parliament could stand for CLP section seats on the NEC, but thereafter MPs and MEPs could not stand in this section. Moreover, under Blair, the committee's role declined. Its former policy development function is now largely carried out by the National Policy Forum. One of its committees has disciplinary powers including the ability to expel members of the party who have brought it into disrepute or to readmit previously expelled members. However, the NEC remains the administrative authority of the party.

In 2007, a new seat on the NEC was made for the Black Socialist Society, now known as BAME Labour.

In 2016, two new seats, one each for Scottish Labour and Welsh Labour, were added.

The 2017 Conference saw the creation of four additional NEC seats: one in the trade union section and three in the CLP section. Although the additional union seat was elected at Conference, the extra CLP seats were not elected until January 2018.

In November 2020, following the Brexit withdrawal agreement ending UK representation within the European Parliament and ending the European Parliamentary Labour Party, the single seat on the NEC for the EPLP leader was replaced by a new disability representative.

The Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the People's History Museum in Manchester has the full run of the minutes of the National Executive Committee in their collection.

Organisation

NEC Officers

As of October 2023, the Officers of the NEC are:

• Leader of the Labour Party: Keir Starmer MP
• Deputy Leader of the Labour Party: Angela Rayner MP
• Chair: Jessica Morden MP
• Vice-Chair: Ellie Reeves MP
• Treasurer: Mike Payne
• Chair of Organisation Committee: Wendy Nichols
• Chair of the Equalities Committee: Angela Eagle MP
• Chair of the Disputes Panel: Gurinder Singh Josan MP
• Chair of the National Policy Forum (when a member of the NEC): Anneliese Dodds MP
• Former Chair of the National Policy Forum (when a member of the NEC): Ann Black
• NEC Co-Convenor of the Joint Policy Committee: Gavin Sibthorpe

Joint Policy Committee

The Joint Policy Committee (JPC) has strategic oversight of policy development in the party through overseeing the rolling programme of Partnership in Power. The JPC acts as the steering group for the National Policy Forum. It is therefore a joint committee made up of NEC, Government and National Policy Forum representatives.

NEC Co-Convenor: Gavin Sibthorpe

NEC sub-committees

The following are sub-committees of the NEC:

Equalities Committee

The Equalities Committee responsibilities and roles include:

• Women's recruitment, retention and participation in the party in elected office and the development of women's forums at local level
• Black, Asian and ethnic minority recruitment, retention and participation in the party
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender representation and participation within the party
• Disability access and increased representation and participation of members with disabilities
• Considering effective party responses to Employment Framework Directive based on Article 13 (Treaty on European Union) and the European Union Action Programme to Combat Discrimination
• Responsibility for driving the Party's equality agenda and the development of an inclusive organisation at all levels
• Link with Organisation Committee and Young Labour Co-ordinating Committee on issues of age discrimination
• Biannual women's forum
• Biannual ethnic minorities forum

Business Board

The Business Board is responsible for overseeing the business functions of the organisation including the management of the finances.

Audit, Risk Management and Compliance Committee

The Audit, Risk Management and Compliance Committee has responsibility for audit and compliance oversight, and is accountable for internal audit procedures providing a systematic approach to risk management in all of the party's activities. The committee ensures that the Labour Party's financial activities are within the law, and that an effective system of internal control is maintained.

Organisation Sub-Committee

The Organisation Sub Committee is a sub-committee of the NEC (generally known as Org Sub) and is responsible for party rules and constitution; ensuring parties are operating effectively throughout the country to the highest standards and has overall responsibility for membership, investigations, selections, Conferences, electoral law, boundaries strategy and internal elections.

Complaints & Disciplinary Sub-committee

The NEC Complaints & Disciplinary Sub-committee is a sub-committee of the NEC Organisation Sub-committee which hears membership appeals; re-admission applications; party disputes and conciliation; minor investigations and local government appeals where referred to the NEC. It operates in a quasi-judicial fashion, conducting hearings and interviews around the country where necessary.

Membership

Excluding ex officio members, NEC members are elected by their respective constituencies, and each serve a two-year term. As of 2023, the NEC has 39 members, as follows:

• 3: Ex officio positions: Leader & Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and Party Treasurer
• 13: Trade Unions representatives
• 6: MPs
  • 3 Frontbench MPs (nominated by the Cabinet)
  • 3 Backbench MPs (elected by the members of the Parliamentary Labour Party)
• 2: Local Government representatives
• 9: from CLPs
• 1: from the Socialist and Co-operative Societies
• 2: Scottish and Welsh Labour
• 3: 1 BAME Labour, 1 Young Labour, 1 Disabled members

The General Secretary of the Labour Party acts as the non-voting secretary to the NEC, the Chief Whip and the PLP Chair also attend as non-voting members.

Current members

As of 26 September 2024

Leader of the Labour Party

• Keir Starmer MP

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

• Angela Rayner MP

Treasurer

• Mike Payne

House of Commons Front Bench

• Shabana Mahmood MP
• Ellie Reeves MP
• Jonathan Reynolds MP

Young Labour Representative

• Elsie Greenwood

Disabled Members Representative

• Ellen Morrison

BAME Representative

• Carol Sewell

Division I - Trade Unions

• Kathy Abu-Bakir (GMB)
• David Agbley (Unite)
• Maggi Ferncombe (UNISON)
• Isabelle Gutierrez (Musicians' Union)
• Jane Jones (Usdaw)
• Nicola Jukes (TSSA)
• Ian Murray (FBU)
• Wendy Nichols (UNISON)
• Karen Rose (CWU)
• Gavin Sibthorpe (GMB)
• Joanne Thomas (Usdaw)
• Mick Whelan (ASLEF)
• Mary Williams (Unite)

Division II - Socialist Societies

• Anu Prashar (Socialist Societies)

Division III - Constituency Labour Parties

• Cat Arnold
• Jessica Barnard
• Ann Black
• Gemma Bolton
• Yasmine Dar
• Angie Davies
• Abdi Duale
• Peter Mason
• Jane Thomas

Division IV - Labour Councillors

• Cllr Claire Holland
• Cllr Peter Wheeler

Division V - Parliamentary Labour Party

• Luke Akehurst MP
• Gurinder Singh Josan MP
• Melanie Onn MP

Scottish Labour and Welsh Labour

• Jackie Baillie MSP (Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party)
• Ann Jones (Welsh Labour Representative)

In addition, the General Secretary (Hollie Ridley), the PLP Chief Whip (Alan Campbell MP), and PLP Chair (Jessica Morden MP) attend ex officio without a vote

Chair of the National Executive Committee

The chair of the party is elected by the NEC from among its own members, and holds office for a calendar year, chairing both NEC meetings and national party conferences.

The name of this post has become confused since 2001 when Labour Party leader Tony Blair appointed Charles Clarke to the courtesy position of Chair of the Labour Party without the NEC or the national conference authorising such a position. The office's name remains "chair of the party" in the Labour Party Constitution, but elsewhere the party presents the position as "Chair of the NEC". Prior to 2001 the position was called "Chair of the Labour Party", and before that "Chairman of the Labour Party".

List of chairs of the Labour Party National Executive Committee

Chairmen of the Annual Conference of the Labour Representation Committee

1900: William Charles Steadman MP

1901: John Hodge

1902: William John Davis

1903: Joseph Nicholas Bell

1904: John Hodge

1905: Arthur Henderson MP

Chairmen of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Representation Committee

1900: William Charles Steadman MP

1901: Allan Gee

1902: Richard Bell MP

1903: John Hodge

1904: David J. Shackleton

1905: Arthur Henderson MP

Chairmen of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party

1906: Arthur Henderson MP

1907: J. J. Stephenson

1908: Walter Hudson MP

1909: John Robert Clynes MP

1910: Keir Hardie MP

1911: William Cornforth Robinson

1912: Ben Turner

1913: George Henry Roberts MP

1914: Tom Fox

1915: No conference held

1916: William Crawford Anderson MP

1917: George Wardle MP (acting)

1917–18: W. F. Purdy

1918–19: John McGurk

1919–20: William Harold Hutchinson

1920–21: Alexander Gordon Cameron

1921–22: Fred Jowett MP

1922–23: Sidney Webb MP

1923–24: Ramsay MacDonald MP

1924–25: Charlie Cramp

1925–26: Robert Williams

1926–27: Frederick Roberts MP

1927–28: George Lansbury MP

1928–29: Herbert Morrison MP

1929–30: Susan Lawrence MP

1930–31: Stanley Hirst

1931–32: George Lathan MP

1932–33: Joseph Compton

1933–34: Walter R. Smith

1934–35: William Albert Robinson

1935–36: Jennie Adamson

1936–37: Hugh Dalton MP

1937–39: George Dallas

1939–40: Barbara Ayrton-Gould

1940–41: James Walker MP

1941–42: Walter Henry Green MP

1942–43: Alfred Dobbs

1943–44: George Ridley MP

1944–45: Ellen Wilkinson MP

1945–46: Harold Laski

1946–47: Philip Noel-Baker MP

1947–48: Emmanuel Shinwell MP

1948–49: Jim Griffiths MP

1949–50: Sam Watson

1950–51: Alice Bacon MP

1951–52: Harry Earnshaw

1952–53: Arthur Greenwood MP

1953–54: Wilfrid Burke MP

1954–55: Edith Summerskill MP

1955–56: Edwin Gooch MP

1956–57: Margaret Herbison MP

1957–58: Tom Driberg

1958–59: Barbara Castle MP

1959–60: George Brinham

1960–61: Richard Crossman MP

1961–62: Harold Wilson MP

1962–63: Dai Davies

1963–64: Anthony Greenwood MP

1964–65: Ray Gunter MP

1965–66: Walter Padley MP

1966–67: John McFarlane Boyd

1967–68: Jennie Lee MP

1968–69: Eirene White MP

1969–70: Arthur Skeffington MP

1970–71: Ian Mikardo MP

1971–72: Tony Benn MP

1972–73: William Simpson

1973–74: James Callaghan MP

1974–75: Fred Mulley MP

1975–76: Tom Bradley MP

1976–77: John Chalmers

1977–78: Joan Lestor MP

1978–79: Frank Allaun MP

1979–80: Lena Jeger

1980–81: Alex Kitson

1981–82: Judith Hart MP

1982–83: Sam McCluskie

1983–84: Eric Heffer MP

1984–85: Alan Hadden

1985–86: Neville Hough

1986–87: Syd Tierney

1987–88: Neil Kinnock MP

1988–89: Dennis Skinner MP

1989–90: Jo Richardson MP

1990–91: Tom Sawyer

1991–92: John Evans MP

1992–93: Tony Clarke

1993–94: David Blunkett MP

1994–95: Gordon Colling

1995–96: Diana Jeuda

1996–97: Robin Cook MP

1997–98: Richard Rosser

1998–99: Brenda Etchells

1999–00: Vernon Hince

2000–01: Maggie Jones

2001–02: Margaret Wall

2002–03: Diana Holland

2003–04: Mary Turner

2004–05: Ian McCartney MP

2005–06: Jeremy Beecham

2006–07: Michael Griffiths

2007–08: Dianne Hayter

2008–09: Cath Speight

2009–10: Ann Black

2010–11: Norma Stephenson

2011–12: Michael Cashman MEP

2012–13: Harriet Yeo

2013–14: Angela Eagle MP

2014–15: Jim Kennedy

2015–16: Paddy Lillis

2016–17: Glenis Willmott MEP

2017–18: Andy Kerr

2018–19: Wendy Nichols

2019–20: Andi Fox

2020–21: Margaret Beckett MP

2021–22: Cllr Alice Perry

2022–23: Johanna Baxter

2023–24: James Asser

2024-25: Ellie Reeves MP

See also

• Conservative Party Board
• Liberal Democrats Federal Board

Further reading

• Laffin, Martin; Shaw, Eric; Taylor, Gerald (January 2007). "The New Sub-National Politics of the British Labour Party". Party Politics. 13 (1): 88–108. doi:10.1177/1354068806071265. hdl:1893/1049. ISSN 1354-0688.
• McCormick, Paul (1980). "The Labour Party: Three Unnoticed Changes". British Journal of Political Science. 10 (3): 381–387. doi:10.1017/S0007123400002258. ISSN 0007-1234. JSTOR 193528.

• McKenzie, R. T. (January 1956). "The Wilson Report and the Future of the Labour Party Organization". Political Studies. 4 (1): 93–97. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1956.tb00943.x. ISSN 0032-3217.

• Massey, Christopher (April 2021). "The Changing of the Praetorian Guard? The Size, Structure and Composition of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee and the Enduring Importance of Labour's Trade Unions". The Political Quarterly. 92 (2): 343–351. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.12984. ISSN 0032-3179.
• Russell, Meg (2005). "The National Executive Committee". Building New Labour: The Politics of Party Organisation. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 172–189. doi:10.1057/9780230513167_7. ISBN 978-1-4039-3994-4.

• Shaw, Eric (April 1989). "The Labour Party and The Militant Tendency". Parliamentary Affairs. 42 (2): 180–196. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a052189. ISSN 1460-2482.

• Sibley, John Richard (March 1978). "Labour Party Committee Elections and The Labour Leader, 1945–1976". European Journal of Political Research. 6 (1): 71–104. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1978.tb00550.x. ISSN 0304-4130.

External links

• "Members of the NEC" Labour (2024)