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The chair Ellie Reeves welcomed members, and Luke Akehurst gave a eulogy to former NEC member and Hackney councillor Peter Kenyon. A discussion on national women’s conference will be held in May.
General secretary Hollie Ridley updated the NEC on preparations for council elections and the Runcorn & Helsby by-election, the first with Labour in government.
All members were urged to support our excellent candidate Karen Shore, local councillor and teacher. Strategies were being developed for 2026, with crucial elections for Scotland, Wales and London councils.
Sound finances underpinned every aspect of party operations, so all costs were carefully controlled and fundraising asks had been stepped up.
Hollie also reported on senior appointments, progress in closing staff pay gaps for gender, ethnicity and disability, and successful Scottish and regional conferences. International women’s day saw the launch of a new development programme for women and a reception for Young Labour. On the by-election she said that tactical decisions were made by the local agent, and were consistent with Labour policy on asylum-seekers. Others pointed out that Reform MPs consistently vote against workers’ rights and we should highlight this.
I asked again for regular communications with members, highlighting government achievements and explaining difficult decisions, and better media management. Requests for money should always show how they will put Labour values into action. Some representatives said that members were reluctant to canvass, especially after the latest disability benefit cuts, others that Liz Kendall’s on-line briefing had reassured them. Hollie hoped the new website would be available soon, and asked for ideas on how best to get messages out.
READ MORE: ‘Ill thought out’ or ‘strong performance’? Reeves’ Spring Statement divides MPs
Building for Britain
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook summarised progress towards 1.5 million decent homes, to meet the desperate need for rented property and steps onto the housing ladder, and also 150 major infrastructure projects.
Currently 160,000 children were existing in homeless accommodation. The Labour government had achieved more in eight months than the Tories did in 14 years, overhauling the national planning framework, releasing green-belt and “grey-belt” land, ending right-to-buy discounts, increasing planning applications by 160%, and investing in social and affordable housing.
Angela Rayner added that Labour was putting £600 million into 60,000 extra construction apprenticeships and ten technical colleges to train British workers, rather than relying on migrant labour.
She recognised that £1 billion would only begin to tackle homelessness, and acknowledged the link between housing allowance rates and child poverty. April would see record rises in the minimum wage, the employment rights bill had cleared the Commons, railways were going back into public ownership, and remediation work on cladding was being accelerated. On devolution, powers would be passed down to mayors across England, and this year’s elections had only been deferred where new structures would be in place by May 2026, to avoid wasting money.
Angela and Matthew responded to a range of questions, including issues around leasehold, shared ownership and section 106 agreements. Homelessness was still a major problem, especially in London where 58% of homeless people lived. Asylum-seekers whose claims were accepted would now have 56 days rather than just 20 days to find their own accommodation, to avoid adding to the numbers on the streets.
On fire safety, sprinklers would be compulsory in new care homes In England but not, unlike Wales, in all new-build properties. Apprentices would no longer have to pass maths and English GCSEs before starting their training. Labour would resist any attempts to water down the employment rights bill by the Lords, who were dragging their feet because they were upset about losing hereditary peers, and indeed about losing the election. Overall, an impressive display of energy, competence and commitment.
READ MORE: Prime Minister’s director of communications Matthew Doyle ‘to quit’
Chair’s Update
Party chair Ellie Reeves said we had to show voters that change is hard. The cost of living is still a challenge, but we are now starting to make the changes that people voted for.
The crime and policing bill will deliver safer streets, wages will go up by an average of £700 a year, solar panels are being installed on 200 schools and hospitals, breakfast clubs are rolling out, with the biggest transformation in workers’ rights for a generation, two million extra NHS appointments, and waiting lists falling for five months in a row.
As chair of the national policy forum Ellie was pleased to announce that the six policy commissions are up and running, providing essential links between government and party. Each commission has its own workplan and is publishing a paper on 31 March, open for consultation until 8 June 2025. The joint policy committee agreed that these first-year documents would focus on fixing the foundations, though I don’t know where specific topics were decided.
Ellie confirmed that the papers are suggested starting points, but local parties are encouraged to discuss whatever they wish. For instance Breaking Down Barriers focuses on raising school-readiness among five-year-olds from 67% to 75%.
This commission also covers the whole of the departments of education, work and pensions, and culture, media and sport, so it includes pensions, winter fuel payments, equalities, child poverty, universal credit and sickness and disability-related benefits. In addition every paper includes a question about its implications for women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic people, LGBT+ people, disabled people and those with other protected characteristics. And 8 June is not an absolute cutoff for everything – members can feed views in all year round. So there are plenty of opportunities to contribute.
Others pointed out that some issues cut across several commissions. They asked to clarify the impact of the treasury’s fiscal rules on other departments, including, for instance, how increased defence spending should be met and where cuts should fall. The NPF has to be a bridge between fulfilling the 2024 manifesto commitments, and building on them as the next election approaches.
Wales and Scotland will have their own manifestos for 2026, and must be harmonised with developments in England. And above all, members will need evidence that their views can make a difference, if they are not to lose faith.
READ MORE: Reeves under fire from Labour’s three biggest unions
Prime Minister’s Questions
We were joined by Keir Starmer, who reviewed the volatile international scene. Current priorities were the security and sovereignty of Ukraine, raising defence spending towards 2.5% in this parliament and 3% in the next and encouraging European allies to increase their capability, with the UK returning to a leading role.
While there was limited positive movement on Ukraine, Gaza was falling backwards, with the ceasefire shattered by the actions of the Israeli government. Domestically the NHS was showing progress, with more appointments, shorter waiting lists and staff on the frontline not the picket line.
Interest rates were falling and housing ambitions surging ahead. The current welfare system was not defensible on moral grounds alone when so many young people were on sickness-related benefits, but the spring statement would not represent a return to austerity.
The disabled members’ representative said that many disabled people were terrified, and helplines were overwhelmed. PIP (the personal independence payment) is designed to meet the extra costs of living with a disability whether or not someone is in work. Arbitrary changes to measurement will not make them less disabled.
A green paper is supposed to be the basis of consultation, yet there had been no attempt to bring people with us. Others shared Keir’s concerns about those not earning or learning, but these measures were hard to defend. Keir replied that Liz Kendall’s package included £1 billion to help people back into work.
The entire welfare system was heading for £70 billion a year, one-third of the NHS budget and more than policing and prisons combined, and this was not sustainable, but he would look at further support.
I raised continuing concerns about child poverty. According to the government’s own figures this is increasing faster in families where at least one adult is working, in larger families hit by the two-child limit and the benefit cap, in ethnic minority families, and in families where someone is disabled (see above).
Keir was proud of the significant falls in child poverty under the last Labour government, and determined to match its achievements. The strategy is still under development, but I welcome his personal commitment and await details of how it will be funded.
Even before further cuts imposed in the next day’s spring statement, members worried that this was indeed beginning to look like austerity 2.0. To counter this we had to promote our own narrative: raising employers’ national insurance to fund public services, settling pay disputes, raising the minimum wage.
Keir was congratulated on handling the difficult international environment as well as anyone could. He was the first person to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his abrupt removal from the White House, and that was appreciated. However the UK was unlikely to escape the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs, and there would be other challenges.
He regretted having to fund defence spending by raiding the international aid budget, but he was talking with the World Bank and other stakeholders about ways of co-ordinating and leveraging support from elsewhere, rather than just walking away.
The Home Front
Ellie returned to the 2025 elections. These are mainly in rural areas, with a few mayoral contests and the Runcorn & Helsby by-election. Key issues for voters, as elsewhere, were the cost of living, access to GPs, potholes, housing, local hospitals and crime.
Most county councils are currently controlled by the Tories, so the message is again one of change, electing Labour councils working in partnership with a national Labour government to break down barriers, clear up the Tory mess and overcome the bureaucracy, the blockers and the status quo.Turnout will be critical in seeing off minority parties, which is why motivating members and supporters matters. They need to know what they’re fighting for.
Devolution and Accountability
The final paper was intended to launch a discussion of new party structures to reflect the establishment of regional mayors across the whole of England. Initially I didn’t understand it, probably because there are no such mayors in the 91 south-east constituencies. Many of us do not yet know which of our current unitary, borough and county councils will be abolished or merged, or how they will be grouped into mayoral authorities, and some of the options have damaging representational and financial consequences.
By comparison mayors in Manchester and Liverpool are well-established and the whole of Yorkshire & the Humber is now organised into mayoral realms. There, the need for co-operation above CLP level is evident, and it is sensible to plan ahead rather than invent ad hoc rules further down the line.
Some of the issues emerged during the last set of police and crime commissioner elections, where Labour could have taken several more positions with a few thousand carefully deployed votes.
Areas for discussion could include:
– choosing candidates
– contributing to mayoral manifestos
– accountability – how do mayors report back, and listen, to members in their patch? Through regional executives, or with their own version of local government committees?
– campaigning – how can mayoral campaigns be co-ordinated to maximise Labour’s chances of success, with unified messages and effective use of activists?
– funding – bearing in mind that many CLPs are already cash-strapped, with most membership income retained centrally
Consultation will open in April and run until July, with a survey going to CLPs, local government committees, Labour groups, existing mayors, regional executive committees, and other stakeholders. Structures in Wales and Scotland will not change, though they may have helpful lessons.
Fixing the Foundations
Finally I asked if it was time to grant formal status to parish and town councils, currently outwith the rulebook and operating beneath and beyond party control. Some are now politically aligned, represent tens of thousands of residents, employ significant numbers of staff, and manage multi-million pound budgets. If all English areas move to large single-tier councils, their importance at community level is likely to increase. This gained some support, but it will be a complicated project.
Read more of our Spring Statement news and analysis:
And read more commentary on the Spring Statement:
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