Posts Tagged ‘NEC’

Why I’m voting for Luke Akehurst

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Luke Akehurst, Hackney councillor, blogger, Dad, Stoke Newington resident and legendary right-wing Lib Dem hater, that Luke Akehurst, is standing for Labour’s NEC. I can think of no better candidate.

There are four main reasons that I’m voting for Luke Akehurst, and I hope I can persuade you to do the same.

1. Luke is Labour first

Luke Akehurst would make a fantastic member of the NEC because his primary (political) concern is for the Labour party. He’s not Blairite, Brownite, Kinnockite – or anything else – so much as Labour first, second and third. These qualities are always important but will be particularly important for the Labour party leadership (in its broadest sense) in the next couple of years.

Luke is also Labour First – but that’s another issue ;)

2. You can have an honest disagreement with Luke

There are lots of issues on which I do not agree with Luke: 42 day detention, some aspects of defence policy and probably many others that we’re yet to discover. We do,though, agree on some issues where Luke has a different position from what many would imagine – party funding reform, proportional representation to name a few. Bob Piper, and I’m sure others, will use their policy disagreements as a reason to not vote for Luke. But why I like Luke is that you can disagree with him without him dismissing you as an infidel, a traitor to the cause or questioning your principles. The NEC isn’t about ideological purity, or a forum for policy debates. I know that Luke will represent all Labour members – even those with different views from his own.

3. Luke is a formidable campaigner

There are many people on the NEC with many qualities – both previously and at the moment. But few have a track record of campaigning across the country like Luke. I first heard of Luke from Aldershot activist Keith Dibble, who I got to know when I was chair of Romsey CLP and a National Policy Forum rep. He showed me the planning and organisation that Luke had led in Aldershot in 1997 2001 and it was phenomenal. Luke wants to see Labour thrive as a party of the whole country – not just marginals or heartlands. We need people with the experience of that at the head of our party more now than ever before.

4. Luke takes Labour procedures seriously

I’m too much of a coward to laugh directly at Luke – only behind his back. But I remember vividly one night when he popped round and was telling us the minutiae of an election to a Labour Party regional board. He finished the story “this is serious shit”. Of course, little could be further from the truth. Regional boards of the Labour party are among the most pointless, meaningless organisations fathomable. But the NEC needs people who respect the party, its structures and rules. Luke is your man for the job.

I will also be supporting Ann Black, assuming she is running again. And although they are politically different, I am sure that each will do an inspiring job, in their own way. It’s not easy being Labour – and it’s going to get harder – so good people like Luke need to step forward and take responsibility. I, for one, am grateful.

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Posted in Hackney, Labour politics | 3 Comments »

Labour is also Ann Black

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

It’s grim being a Labour party member at the moment. But the Labour party is about so much more than Cabinet ministers with three homes, forgetful junior ministers and backbenchers redefining the boundaries of honest and acceptable expenses claims.

Meet Ann Black. Ann Black is vice chair of Labour’s National Executive Committee. The NEC is the body which oversees the running of the Labour party and to whom the party leader is answerable. Ann Black is directly elected by the rank and file members of the Labour party and regularly comes top of the ballot. She therefore has one of the largest mandates of any person in the party.

You won’t see Ann Black pontificating on the TV. “Friends of Ann Black” don’t give briefings to The Guardian. Ann Black doesn’t give speeches to thinktanks accompanied by briefing from “advisers” who reveal the coded warnings in the speech.

Instead Ann Black travels the country listening to the Labour party. She will attend meetings of 10 people in a safe Tory seat. She will attend meetings of 100 people in a marginal constituency. She will go to no-go areas for Labour in the south west and Labour-only areas in the north east.

Ann Black does this all at her own expense (or largely, I don’t know if the NEC covers the cost of attending meetings). She stands for election at her own expense. She goes to Labour party conference at her own expense (£100s) and all the other events, conferences and meetings that she can.

Ann does this because she believes in the Labour party and she believes in doing her job dilligently: representing the rank and file membership to the Labour leadership. She appears to do this without a personal agenda. On every big issue she emails me and thousands of others asking our view. And she always replies when I’ve given my opinion – and will even continue the debate. And she reports back from meetings quickly and comprehensively.

I first knew Ann Black in south east Labour politics. My Millbank Chip was fully operational and she was a member of the disaffected awkward squad, the Grassroots Alliance. I was programmed to be suspicious. However, Ann Black is no permanent critic. She doesn’t just say ‘united we stand, divided we fall’, she believes it. She stands up to the leadership when she needs to, but acts in the spirit of party unity where necessary.

I don’t believe Ann Black has ever sought higher office. She doesn’t appear to be an aspiring MP. She does her job well and has won the respect of her peers.

It’s embarrassing being a Labour party member at the moment. I wince when I leave my home and see the Vote Labour poster in the window. I felt huge pity for my wife, out campaigning in the rain last weekend.

And then I remember Ann Black. It’s thanks to people like Ann Black that we have a Labour government, a minimum wage and people lifted out of poverty. The Labour party will outlive Gordon Brown. It will never live without the likes of Ann Black.

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Posted in Labour politics | 2 Comments »