Who does what in the Labour Party?
With the leak of the internal Labour Party report that was prepared for submission to the EHRC, there’s been calls for the Leader of the Party to take action but the question is, who is responsible for what?
Looking at who does what, doesn’t really make it much clearer but here’s a guide to the terms you’ll be hearing more of.
Labour Party (LP)
The Labour party is the term used to cover all elements of the party, both the bureaucracy and the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP)
Is exactly what it says, it’s the UK parliamentary wing of the party. All Labour Party MPs are a member of the PLP.
European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP)
Up until Brexit on Jan 31 2020, there was also a European Parliamentary Labour Party wing.
Leader of the Party
Currently Kier Starmer. The Leader of the Party is also the head of the party and is accountable for the actions of the party but appears to be more of a figurehead position – think like the Queen. He’s responsible for the Parliamentary Labour Party and if the party is elected to government, becomes Prime Minister.
Chair of the Party
The Chair is usually, but not always, the Deputy Leader. The role is responsible for the administration of the Party. It was created in 2001 by Tony Blair to move the responsibilities of party administration to a separate position.
Recently the role has been filled by Tom Watson (Sept 2015 – June 2017), Ian Lavery (June 2017 – April 2020) and currently is filled by Angela Rayner (April 2020 onwards).
National Executive Committee (NEC)
The NEC is the administrative authority of the party. The Chair of the NEC used to be the Chair of the Party but when Blair created the post of Party Chair back in 2001 it all became a little confused. Now the Chair is called the Chair of the NEC but apparently is still called the Chair of the Party in the constitution as no one has bothered to submit the motion to conference to change it.
It has around 39 elected members. Until Brexit there were positions for the EPLP leader and potentially one or more MEPs elected with the backbenchers. that should change at 2020 conference when these positions will most likely be reduced (3 Backbench MPs or MEPs) or abolished (EPLP Leader).
When the Party Chair is also the Deputy Leader they have a seat at the table. When they’re not, they don’t.
General Secretary of the Party (GS)
The GS of the Party is the most senior employee and is responsible for all administrative tasks undertaken by the Party in England. There are General Secretaries for the Welsh and Scottish Labour Parties. The GS can be financially responsible for debts incurred by the party, if the party is bankrupted. The role also acts as the secretary to the NEC but has no vote on the committee.
The Role was filled by Iain McNicol from 2011 – 2018 and from 2018 by Jennie Formby. Jennie resigned from the position in April 2020 and no sucessor has been appointed yet.
So there you have it. As clear as mud in some cases and to the outsider, it seems that it would allow people to shrug off responsibility but there you go.
