Labour has had a National Membership Scheme since 01/01/1989 and the data below covers that in detail. Below also is the pre-1989 membership data, which was collected locally and information sent to Party HQ.

This useful Parliament Research Report covers the whole period in summary form.

A current summary of all political party membership is here for current comparison with Labour.

A table covering  membership from 1928 to 2012 is just below. 

The data below covers membership prior to the Bational Membership Scheme of 1989 consistent national. It is sourced from the Longman Companion to the Labour Party 1900-1998.

It should be noted the data from 1957 to 1980 likely overstated the membership due to many CLP's affiliating on a higher conference vote number (around 900) than their local membership. One can use1950s/1960's cinema attendance & football match attendance as proxies to re-estimate the decline in public participation (eg Collectors actually going outdoors in the cold during winter and collecting the membership in pre-online days) during the "rise of the TV" era and it is likely as a result that Labour individual membership was higher than 600,000 between 1947 and 1962 - higher than it has been before or since - but dropped below that figure after. It's also likely the membership dropped to its 1980's/early 90's 300,000 figure by 1968 when the popularity of the Wilson Government was at its lowest and a lot of "collectors" who sustained the local figures dropped out of activity.

In the same era the Tories rose from 800k in 1946 to 2.8m members in 1950 (the Lord Woolton anti-Attlee Government "Mr Cube" anti-Nationalisation surge) and stayed at over 1m until the early 1990s (those younger late 1940's sign-ups likely lived a long time). However though Labour individual membership was lower it could claim up to 3.5m+ affiliated membership through that period rising to 5.5m by late 1970's early 1980's when TU membership as a whole reached its 13.2m zenith in 1979 and there were 300k shop stewards/reps compared to 100k nowadays.

 Ramsay Macdonald era

• 1928: 215,000

• 1929 - General Election victory

• 1929: 228,000 - Labour membership rises for 4 years as Labour forms its second Government

• 1930: 277,000

Arthur Henderson era

• 1931: 297,000 

• 1931 - General Election defeat

George Lansbury era

• 1932: 372,000 - 75,000 member increase after Labour split and big General Election defeat

• 1933: 366,000

• 1934: 381,000

• 1935: 419,000 

Clement Attlee era

• 1936: 431,000  - slight rise after General election defeat and new Leader

• 1937: 447,000 

• 1938: 429,000

• 1939: 409,000

• 1940: 304,000

• 1941: 227,000

• 1942: 219,000

• 1943: 236,000

• 1944: 266,000

• 1945 - General Election Victory

• 1945: 487,000 - big rise after election as Lab & Cons, even more so (see above), put on lots of members for 5+ years

• 1946: 645,000

• 1947: 608,000

• 1948: 629,000

• 1949: 730,000

• 1950: 908,000

• 1951: 876,000

• 1951 - General Election Defeat

• 1952: 1,015,000 - Labour gains 139,000 members in opposition & reaches record membership

• 1953: 1,005,000

• 1954: 934,000

• 1955: 843,000

Hugh Gaitskell era

• 1956: 845,000 

• 1957: 913,000 - From 1957 to 1980 CLP affiliated at a minimum 800 figure so CLPs below that inflated

• 1958: 889,000

• 1959: 848,000

• 1960: 790,000

• 1961: 751,000

• 1962: 767,000

Harold Wilson era

• 1963: 830,000  - possible implication that Lab gained 63,000 members under Harold Wilson

• 1964 - General Election Victory

• 1964: 830,000 

• 1965: 817,000

• 1966: 776,000

• 1967: 734,000

• 1968: 701,000

• 1969: 681,000

• 1970 - General Election defeat

• 1970: 680,000

• 1971: 700,000 - slight increase in opposition and time of major local election wins

• 1972: 703,000

• 1973: 665,000

• 1974 - Two General Election Victories

• 1974: 692,000 - possible implication that Lab at perhaps 300,000 then added 30,000 members in the election year

• 1975: 675,000

• 1976: 659,000

James Callaghan era

• 1977: 660,000

• 1978: 676,000

• 1979 - General Election defeat

• 1979: 666,000 - last of the 800 minimum affiliation membership numbers

• 1980: 348,000 - From this point on CLP 1957 to 1980 CLP affiliated at a minimum 800 figure so CLPs below that were inflated

Michael Foot era

• 1981: 277,000

• 1982: 274,000

• 1983: 295,000

Neil Kinnock era

• 1984: 323,000 - some rise after the 1983 General Election defeat

• 1985: 313,000

• 1986: 297,000

• 1987: 289,000

• 1988: 266,000

The data below covers the National Membership Scheme from 1989 onward when Labour adopted consistent national counting processes as opposed to previously locally collected membership subscriptions.

Note: Important to be aware Labour Membership comes in two numbers:

• Total Membership (which including arrears)

• Paid Up Membership (eligible to vote in internal elections).

Membership definition comes in the following forms

"Paid Up" Membership

• Accepted - eligible to take part and appear in the electorate for internal elections

"Total" Membership is:

• Accepted plus:

• Arrears - from 1 day up to 6 months

• Prelapse - last 2 weeks of the 6 months of arrears

Not counted in any of the totals:

• Lapsed - Not a member any more

The data below specifies what type of membership total it is. It should be added that Total Membership including arrears has mainly been used by the Party under all types of leadership and Paid Up membership and arrears levels have rarely been given except when it has been revealed by the electorate number (ie Paid Up membership). Where it has been given is stated below. 

I have bolded below each occurrence of the "Total Membership" figure (which includes arrears) simply so it gives a consistent set of comparative data over a 30+ year period. I appreciate some will focus on one or other membership total depending on academic or political motivation.

The party is now putting more effort into membership retention. A November 2024 NEC report aimed for 70% of new joiners to stay after their first year as once they sign up for a direct debit they tend to stay for a number of years. In the last year making it more convenient to fill in an online form for a direct debit rather than making a phone call to renew an annual membership may encourage retention.

A useful academic study of earlier Labour membership is here: 

Labour Membership Data - 1989-2012

The 1989-2012 period will be "Total Membership" which is the number usually publicly given by the Party. That includes arrears.

I have added who was leader at the time the Annual Report membership data was published as Leaders and more importantly Leadership elections can have some impact on membership sign-up. Another thing that impacts on membership rises has been Labour losing a General Election to the Tories and people joining Labour in the aftermath. Important to also note under Leadership from all wings of the party have over the years been quite prepared to not report a significant membership decline until forced to under various reporting requirements.  

On the Labour Dashboard page, I have also, under the Deputy Leadership Election data, added some analysis of inflow and outflow of membership in relation to its affiliated levy payer vote at past Leadership elections. As the recent Deputy Leader election analysis illustrates (ie the changed likely politics of the recent TU vote within a party election) due to political events external to Labour how that flow operates now may be different to the past?

Details below:

Membership given from 1989 to 2012 is Total membership which includes arrears. 

Neil Kinnock era

• 1989: 293,723 - National Membership Scheme started which led to the phasing out of subs collectors

• 1990: 311,152 - the Poll Tax was a big recruiter for the party

• 1991: 261,233 

John Smith era

• 1992: 279,530 - A rise after the 1992 General Election

• 1993: 266,270 

Tony Blair era

• 1994: 305,189 

• 1995: 365,110 

• 1996: 400,465 

• 1997 General Election Victory

• 1997: 405,238 - for 19 years a peak after the 1997 General election win. It then declined by 133k in first term

• 1998: 387,776 

• 1999: 361,000 

• 2000: 311,000 

• 2001: 272,000 - an already declining membership starts a 90k drop over next 5 years with Iraq a big driver

• 2002: 248,294 

• 2003: 214,952 

• 2004: 201,374 

• 2005: 198,026 

• 2006: 182,370

Gordon Brown era

• 2007: 176,891 - no membership gain under change of leader. 

• 2008: 166,247 

• 2009: 156,205 - lowest recent membership number at the end of a 13 year Labour Government 

• 2010 General Election Defeat

Ed Miliband era

• 2010: 193,961 - an increase by 37k after the 2010 election defeat

• 2011: 193,300 

"Paid up" Membership from 2012 (ie eligible to vote in internal elections) courtesy of NEC Member Ann Black as well as some Total Membership (including arrears) data from Annual Reports

• 30/03/2012: 178,005 NEC election Paid Up membership excluding arrears (approx date)

• 31/12/2012: 187,537 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears 

• 31/12/2013: 189,531 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 26/06/2014: 181,932 NEC election Paid Up membership excluding arrears

• 31/12/2014: 193,754 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

Jeremy Corbyn era

• 12/08/2015: 294,035 Leadership election Paid Up membership excluding arrears - big rise after a general election defeat and a Leader election

• 31/12/2015: 388,262 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 12/01/2016: 373,443 Leadership/NEC election Paid Up membership excluding arrears (held summer 2016, early cut-off) big increase for a 2nd Leader election

• 31/12/2016 543,645 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 01/07/2017: 538,606 CAC election Paid Up membership excluding arrears (approx date) - big rise after a far better than expected general election result

• 16/11/2017: 525,779 NEC by-election Paid up membership excluding arrears

• 31/12/2017 564,443 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears. Highest ever declared membership under national scheme.

• 22/06/2018: 506,320 NEC election Paid Up membership excluding arrears

• 31/12/2018: 518,659 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 23/07/2019: 450,000 News report - plus 35,000 (7%) in arrears. Total membership 485,000

• 11/11/2019: 430,359 NEC by-election Paid Up membership excluding arrears (cutoff 10 weeks before leadership election). 

• Note: For all of 2019 membership was claimed to be over 500k and no figures were ever given to the NEC but data came out in July 2019 with a news report and later the Nov 2019 figures came out in April 2020 when the electorate for the NEC by-election was revealed. The 100k decline in paid up and total membership in 2018 and 2019 (most likely due to Labour Brexit ambiguity as Green's and LDs saw rises with some ex-members joining) was not reported much at the time, but it is quite relevant to party development now as the Greens with a perceived "more decisive leadership & anti-Brexit form of Corbynism" establish a more than 3-1 membership advantage over Your Party.

Keir Starmer era

• Important to note the only time that both Paid Up Membership and Arrears has been regularly given as well as Total Membership was at NECs from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025. This was not done under any period under any leader before or after. Before 2015 membership size had not been a particularly factional issue except from 1996-1998 when it was boasted as an improvement from the past for a short period.

• 31/12/2019: 532,046 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears (this likely includes a lot of Leadership election joiners). Note. I have classed this date under the Keir Starmer era (even though Jeremy Corbyn was outgoing leader because 110k joined Labour for the 2020 Leader election and around 90% voted Starmer or were Nandy 2nd transfers to him according to polling at the time & were clearly motivated for a different leader.

• 20/01/2020: 552,835 Leadership election Paid Up membership excluding arrears- big rise after a general election defeat and a Leadership election. Second highest declared membership under the national scheme.

• 24/08/2020: 495,961 NEC election - Paid up membership excluding arrears.

• 31/12/2020 523,332 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 31/01/2021: 455,737 NEC report - plus 56,799 in arrears (11%) Total membership 512,536

• 10/05/2021: 440,399 NEC report - plus 48,636 in arrears (10%) Total membership 489,035

• 05/07/2021: 430,926 NEC report - plus 35,200 in arrears (8%) Total membership 466,126

• 15/09/2021: 410,000 Approx total given at NEC - likely paid up members

• 31/12/2021: 432,213  Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 01/07/2022: 378,688 NEC election (approx date) - Paid up members excluding arrears.

• 31/12/2022: 407,405 Annual Report Total membership including arrears

• Jan 2023: 382,000 NEC report - plus 25,328 arrears (6%) Total membership 407,328

• 28/03/2023: 377,757 - NEC Report - plus 23,757 arrears (6%) Total membership 400,757

• 23/05/2023: 378,578 NEC report - plus 17,233 in arrears (4%) Total membership 395,811 Also reported that 48,295 joining in the last 12 months (eg 5/22 to 5/23), and 15,000 in 2023 so far 

• 25/07/2023: 385,324 NEC Report - plus 13,871 in arrears (3%) Total membership 399,195

• 26/09/2023: 367,783 NEC report - 11,760 in arrears (3%) Total membership 379,543

• 31/12/2023: 370,450 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 26/03/2024: 354,891 NEC Report - plus 11,713 in arrears (3%) Total membership 366,604

• 2024 General Election Victory

• 23/07/2024: 348,469 NEC Report - plus 9,611 in arrears (3%) Total members 358,080 

• 25/11/2024: 318,370 NEC report - plus 20,147 in arrears (6%) Total membership 338,517

• 31/12/2024: 333,235 Annual Report Total Membership including arrears

• 28/01/2025: 308,783 NEC report - plus 21,174 in arrears (6%) Total membership 329,957

• 12/12/2025: Under 250,000 - according to a Times Report. Unclear whether Total or Paid Up membership. Later reports seem to imply under 250,000 "paid up" which could mean Total membership including arrears could be as high as 265,000. Important to also note Reform only give a single number which is likely to be Total Membership including arrears as do the Greens.

Note 1: Higher % arrears in 2021 (8%-11%) may reflect members leaving for political reasons after the Change of Leadership and the 3%-6% arrears in 2023-2025 may reflect a more natural level of arrears

Note 2: My own personal current estimate of total membership including arrears from a small basket of CLP trends (Revised  29 Jan 2026 & takes account of Times report above) is 230,000-245,000. I did use a 260,000 "paid up" figure for Deputy Leader result modelling based on the estimate in September assuming Total Membership was higher - see here.

Important: This is only my ongoing 15 year estimate and cannot be at all considered definitive compared to a specific given number as my trend basket may deviate from the overall score at times. 

Note 3: Perhaps the best way to currently estimate looks to be through a monthly membership drop estimate. A 4,000 monthly decline indicated at the end of the most recent official figures above would give a current 285,000 total membership figure by end of 2025 so my estimate above is not a definitive statement on the issue. We can also look at the annual rate of decline in the last few years by comparative annual report count and that is the following:

• 2019-2020: -8,714 - around 110k had newly joined for the 2020 Leader election and that and the Covid period likely slowed down any resignations or removal of lapsed people from the list.

• 2020-2021: -91,119 - clearly the main exit period of Jeremy Corbyn supporting members after his PLP suspension

• 2021-2022: -24,808 - Labour likely gained some members at the end of this period after the Liz Truss chaos

• 2022-2023: -36,955

• 2023-2024: -37,215

As a result we can use the data above to look at the potential change for the following year which will be reported in 2026:

• 2024-2025: If we were to take the average of last 2 years drop it would actually lead to a figure of 296,000 for 31/12/2025 in the 2026 annual report. If we were to use the 18k decline in 1997-98 at the start of the previous Labour Government the 2026 Annual report would say 315,000 for the end of 2025. Thus these numbers are a useful baseline to measure the actual figure when it is reported in Sept 2026 in the Labour Party Annual Report. 

Note 4: If the 250,000-265,000 Times report figure above is confirmed in 2026 it will will show a faster drop in 2025 than the previous two years membership figures and also compared to the first years of the 1997 Blair Government. The monthly membership drop across 10 months in 2025 looks to be 6,496 which is a lot higher than in previous years and may reflect some member reaction to Labour's first year and half in Government.

Note 5: Below is annual membership by Leader period produced by Dave Levy. More on potential member motivational join date is in the next section.

Motivation to join is often driven by who is the party leader at the time, though there will also be local activity factors too. The data below is derived from a small basket of CLPs and likely to be less accurate than total membership number estimates due to varying local factors. However it does give a feel for the composition of the current membership. Useful notes below explain some context as not all these groups (eg 2015-19) may be uniform.

Kinnock/Smith/Blair/Brown eras - 13%

• Pre-1992 - 7% (Kinnock era. Membership join date only goes back to 1/1/89 when the national system was established)

• 1992-1994 - 1% (Smith era, but only 2 years long)

• 1994-2007 - 3% (Blair era. Perhaps surprisingly small, which may be because some resigned over Iraq & rejoined later)

• 2007-2010 - 2% (Brown era. National membership was at its lowest at 180k then)

Milliband era - 8%

• 2010-2015 - 8% (Miliband era. National Membership rose a bit to 200k in this era)

Corbyn era - 37%

• 2015-2019 - 37% (Corbyn era. This will include people who joined to support him but may now have a higher proportion within it of those who joined to oppose him in the two Leader elections who may have still retained membership since 2020, when many of his supporters will have left)

Starmer era - 42%

• 2020-to present - 42% (Starmer era. Around 13% of current members joined for the 2020 Leader election & around 90% voted Starmer or were Nandy 2nd transfers to him according to polling at the time whilst 29% have joined since Keir Starmer became leader)

The data below can be used to take the membership data above to calculate the Labour membership size in a given Nation/Region.

Nations/Regional Distribution of the Labour Membership in CLPs 

Based on past research from 2010.

• London - 21%

• North West -12%

• South East - 10%

• Yorkshire/Humber - 9%

• West Midlands - 8%

• Eastern - 8%

• Scotland - 7%

• East Midlands - 7%

• Wales - 6%

• South West - 6%

• North - East - 6%

A more recent estimate based on incomplete data from a private source (but is pretty accurate) had it as:

• London - 22% (+1)

• North West -12%

• South East - 12% (+2)

• Yorkshire/Humber - 9%

• West Midlands - 7% (-1)

• Eastern - 8%

• Scotland - 5% (-2)

• East Midlands - 7%

• Wales - 5% (-1)

• South West - 8% (+2)

• North - East - 5% (-1)

Northern Ireland

The Labour Party in Northern Ireland had the following membership numbers

• 2017: 2,000 (estimate) + 1,000 Registered Supporters at the time

• 26/11/2024: 700 - NEC Report

37,000 Trade Unionists opt into the Political Levy in Northern Ireland

By comparison with Labour, it's sister Party, the Cooperative Party also had a big rise from 2015 to 2018, then a drop and a further rise up until 2021 when it reached record numbers for its history. Though there has been a small drop it is small compared to Labour's recent changes.

Current elections will be on the Home Page and the Labour Almanack Page

Past Results

2025 Nominations

2024 Labour Internal Elections: Here, here and here.

2022 Labour Internal Elections: Here and here.

2020 Labour Internal Elections: Here, here and here. 

The above covers the Post-2020 politics of Labour. Older results will be added in due course.

Processes

STV Elections in Labour

STV explanation here and here 

Labour Party Accounts

More data will be added here to cover a period of time

2024 Labour Accounts and Treasurer's Report - this was published before conference and ends up in the NEC Annual Report

Below is a useful chart of donations to Labour since 2015 recently produced in the Observer and also a chart by Tom Mills on Large Labour Donations over time.

Rules

One of the big issues of the 2015-19 era was a lot of new members were unaware of the long established rules of Labour Party many drawn from longstanding trade union practice and Citrine traditions. Whilst some were as a result of factional position most were simply based on practical experience. This list aims to ensure new members are better inducted and in future know of all the rules that exist.

Labour Rule Book 2026 - includes all current party Codes of Conduct

NEC Terms of Reference 2016

PLP Standing Orders 2000

PLP Code of Conduct - at back of this document

Revised PLP Code of Conduct News Story

Scottish Labour Rule Book 2025

Model Labour Group Standing Orders 2023

Model Local Rules and Standing Orders

CLP Reorganisation Guide 2023

CLP AGM Guide 2023

CLP and Branch Job Descriptions

General Secretary Guidance to CLPs over Disciplinary Issue Motions - March 2019

General Secretary Guidance over Panorama, IHRC and EHRC Motions - August 2020

• Important to note that General Secretary Guidance to CLPs above (eg cancel meetings for elections or not debate things) has been sent under more than one Party Leadership

Rothery v Evans legal case 2021 with links to other cases that made it clear that selections were a "quintessentially political decision" of parties

I may add in other important legal cases that have contributed to the development of Labour Rules

Rule Breaches and Complaints Handling

Disciplinary data for each quarter

I will add here basic breakdowns of members excluded and expelled since 2021

Managing Meetings

A full Citrine Cheat Sheet is below so these are just reference links

Citrine's ABC of Chairmanship - 1939 Edition

Citrine's ABC of Chairmanship - Digitised version of the 1939 Edition

For information - other Labour Movement Meeting Guides

• Wal Hannington's Mr Chairman

• Duncan Hallas - Hints on Chairmanship

Important Note: Robert's Rules of Order is a US Guide to running meetings and has some differences in the procedure from the UK trade unionist guides written above. 

Rule Change Reviews

Also reviews that made Labour change its 

Refounding Labour Consultation 2011

Refounding Labour Initial Findings 2011

News reports on the 2011 changes here, here, here, here, here, here and here

Academic Study into the Miliband changes

Collins Review 2014

Royall Inquiry into Oxford Labour Club 2016

Chakrabarti Inquiry Report 2016

Labour Democracy Review 2018

EHRC Review into Labour Party 2020 and pdf here plus Labour response

Forde Report 2022 and Labour reponse which includes the 5 follow up work plans

The "institutional turn" in Labour since 2020

Background documents prior to then

Labour Unions

Labour First

Debates on the institutional role of Rules

The Tyranny of Structurelessness 1972

This is just a simple modern checklist for meetings based on Labour Party Standing Orders and Citrine's ABC of Chairmanship where some things are not covered. I have also added a few things based on my long experience of Chairing meetings too. The rules and guides used are below at the links. Some rules will apply differently to other organisations.

• Labour Rule Book 2026

• Local Rules and Standing Orders

• Citrine's ABC of Chairmanship - 1939 Edition

• Citrine's ABC of Chairmanship - Digitised version of the 1939 Edition

There are lots of US "Robert's Rules" cheat sheets but it seems none online for Citrine so this is a short and simplified sequential attempt:

Meeting Contents

Notice/Agenda/Meeting

• Length of meeting - 2 hours maximum unless Chair proposes and meeting agrees by two-thirds majority to suspend Standing Order Chapter 18, Clause I,C,i. on meeting length - see more below.

• Quorum number as per agreed rules for organisation. Can wait for 30 mins to achieve it. If not achieved discussion can continue but will any proposed decisions require approval at the next meeting when minutes are approved.

• Can be useful for Chair at the start to remind people to "address things through the Chair".

• Consider adding a "Code of Conduct" page after the agenda so people know the sort of conduct expected and the Chair can draw attention to it at the start - see below.

• AOB - Consider asking people to raise items at the start of the meeting so the Chair knows what these are. Some Chairs will say this is the only point AOB items can be raised, but there is no hard and fast rule and Chair's may best use their discretion.

Apologies

• These can be just one list or separately recorded as two groups "Sent to Secretary" and "Tabled at Meeting" if wished. 

Introductions

• Always good to welcome any new members and perhaps go round the room to get members to introduce yourself. Then the new member can intrdouce themselves and the meeting show appreciation of their attendance.

Minutes

• It is useful to number minute items so they are easy to refer to

• To improve the flow of the meeting, rather than get stuck on this item, a Chair might wish to minimise "Matters Arising from the Minutes" by flagging items there that will be covered under various officer reports

Speakers

• Chair's will always want to confirm subject, length of speech and time for questions in advance with a speaker

• It is generally good to schedule a speaker early in the meeting as that may help attract interest and improve attendance.

• It is generally good and efficient practice to take questions in "groups of three's" for the speaker to answer together

Motions and Amendments

• These are covered in the following Procedural Issues section - see below

Nominations

• Some organisations do not report all the likely candidates standing for external nomination so only those in the know may make a nomination. It's down to the organisation whether or not they make known all potential nominees as part of the notice and agenda for members to decide if they wish to nominate widely for a vote.

Reports

• It can help make a meeting more interesting if Officer, Delegate and Organisation reports are taken later in the meeting after speakers and motions. At the same time some organisations prefer to take reports earlier to help them more tightly manage the amount of time spent on motions, which could expand if taken earlier.

Secretary's Report/Correspondence

• The infromation received is best grouped if at all possible to make it more logical

Thank you's

• Votes of thanks can be formally moved and seconded as per any motion - see below

• A more informal approach can be for the meeting  from the Chair to "minute its thanks" 

Any Other Business

• The Chair can ask for items early in the meeting and not take any more but unless rules specify it is down to the Chair's discretion when AOB items are first raised.

Date of Next Meeting

• If a regular date (which saves a lot of discussion) these should be listed on the meeting agenda, but the Chair should also state them at the end of a meeting.

Procedural Issues

Motions

• Any first proposed motion is the "Original Motion"

• Motions should aim to be positive (ie propose something) not negative.

• Once proposed and seconded the motion is a "property of the meeting" and only with no opposition can it's text then be amended or it be withdrawn

• Seconder can reserve their right to speak later in the debate

• Alternate between "For" and Against" if possible

• People should speak only once

• A maximum of 5 minutes for a speech

• Mover of motion has right of reply which can be exercised once and in the Labour Party it is taken at end of debates on it and any amendments, whilst for other organisations it might be at end of any first amendment debate

• An approved motion then becomes a "Resolution" for the minutes and any follow-up action.

• Any rescinding of a motion/policy by another motion can only be done after 3 meetings have elapsed

Amendments

• Amendments should be taken one at a time. There are 5 types:

  • Add words

  • Delete words

  • Delete and substitute words

  • Delete almost all words and replace with another text - a "reasoned amendment"

  • Amend an amendment

• The mover of an amendment has a right of reply under Labour Party rules. This is not case elsewhere.

• Once proposed and seconded the amendment is a "property of the meeting" and only with no opposition can it's text then be amended or it be withdrawn

• An amended motion after any amendment has been passed is then called a "Substantive Motion".

Closure of Debate or Meeting - procedural motions

• Only someone who has not spoken on a motion can propose a closure motion

• There are 3 types of closure:

• a) Immediate closure of the debate - 1 option

  • Move: "That the question be now put". 

  • No discussion on this procedural motion

  • If passed  on a motion the mover of the motion has a right of reply before a vote

  • If passed on an amendment only the debate on amendment closes, the mover has a right of reply and it goes to a vote and then debate on the main motion continues

• b) Indefinitely Shelving the Debate - 2 options

  • b,i) Move: "Next Business"

  • Can be moved on a motion or amendment

  • If carried the motion is not voted on

  • If lost the debate continues

  • b,2) Move: "The Previous Question"

  • Can only be moved on a motion

  • If carried the motion is not voted on

  • If lost the motion must be put to an immediate vote

• c) Postpone the Decision indefinitely or for a period - 2 options

  • c,i) Move: "Adjourn Debate" 

  • If also proposed as "Sine Die" this is indefinitely postponed

  • If proposed with a date such as "to next meeting", this is when the debate resumes

  • Mover of Motion has a right or reply explaining their view on the adjournment

  • c,2) Move "Adjourn Meeting"

  • This will set out a date for when the meeting resumes

  • Mover of Motion has a right or reply explaining their view on the adjournment

Voting

• "Tellers" are appointed to count a "show of hands" and may be local party officers

• "Scrutineers" are appointed to count a paper or online ballot

• Record Abstentions as well as For and Against

• A result that is "Unanimous is one where everyone has voted for it

• A result that is "Nem Com" is one that there was only votes for and none against but it may have abstentions

• In the Labour Party, the Chair should not vote on motions and amendments with their own personal vote and should only use their "casting vote" in a tie. Other organisations may allow the Chair to also have their own personal vote too. 

• If the Chair declines to cast their casting vote the motion is minuted as "Not Carried", but the motion can be still brought back at a subsequent meeting and does not require a 3 meeting wait to be re-submitted.

Points of Order

• These must be immediately raised at the point they are relevant

• There are 5 types of Points of Order:

  • a) A speech is irreverent to the debate in hand

  • b) "Unparliamentary language" or a personal attack is being made on another member

  • c) Transgressing a Party Rule - need to name specific rule

  • d) Infringing Standing Orders - need to name a specific Standing Order

  • e) Acting unlawfully or advocating hate speech that may break the law

• Labour Standing Orders state: "Any breach of or question to the rules or standing orders may be raised by a member rising to a point of order. The member must point to the specific section or paragraph of the rules and standing orders they wish to make the point on". 

• Additional procedural Points raised in debate:

  • Points of Explanation - these can be allowed under the Chair's discretion

  • Points of Information - these can be allowed under the Chair's discretion

Chair's Ruling

• The chair’s ruling on any point arising from the rules or standing orders is final unless challenged by not less than four members; such a challenge shall be put to the meeting without discussion and shall only be carried with the support of two-thirds of the members present. 

Suspending Standing Orders

• The Standing Order being suspended needs to be stated

• It requires a two-thirds majority

• Chair can rule them out of order if considers unnecessary

• The most likely suspension of a Standing Order is over maximum time length of a meeting and the Standing Order to quote for the suspension is: "Chapter 18, Clause I,C,i"

Keeping Order - Code of Conduct & Law

• This from the Labour Party Model Standing Orders can be circulated with all agendas:

  • "Party meetings and events shall be conducted in a friendly and orderly manner and organised in such a way as to maximise participation from members. No member shall be precluded from attendance because they cannot gain access to the meeting place for any reason. Harassment or intimidation of any member is unacceptable as is any form of discrimination on the basis of gender, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability or race. Smoking is not permitted at any Party meeting". 

  • "Any member acting in an unruly or disruptive manner, in contravention of the standing orders, may be removed from the meeting by action of the chair. The chair shall put such a motion to the meeting, which to be carried shall require the support of two-thirds of those present and voting. Any member who has been removed from two meetings during a 12 month period shall, with the approval of the appropriate RD(GS), be ineligible to attend meetings of this body for the next 12 months". 

• The law relating to disorder at a public meeting or an organisation's meeting on private property was originally stated in Citrine as Section 5 of the 1936 Public Order Act. This was replaced by Section 4 of the 1986 Public Order Act which covers Fear or Provocation of Violence. Chair's will likely be classed as the senior responsible person making use of this law if the Police ever had to be called to a meeting.

Current Policy

The final Labour Party Policy Programme produced  in advance for the General Election was published in 2023 and is set out in summary here. A full version was published online here. Under Chapter 1, Clause V of Labour Party Rules the Party Programme is the document that the General Election Manifesto is then drawn from.

The Labour Party also in 2020-22 ran a two year Policy Review called “Stronger Together”. The 2022 Stronger Together Update Report is here.

A number of other policy reviews and policy documents contributed to the overall Party Programme:

• Labour Industrial Strategy Policy Document of 2022 is here.

• Labour’s New Deal for Workers developed between 2021 and 2023 is here and here.

• The Labour Green Economic Recovery Review of 2020 is here.

Past Policy Reviews

Below for your information are a number of past policy reviews that contributed to previous Labour Manifestos:

• The Labour Regional Development Strategy review of 2019 is here.

• Towards a National Care Service Policy document of 2019 is here.

• Energy Networks Policy document of 2019 is here.

• Universal Basic Services Report of 2019 is here.

• The Labour International Development document of 2018 is here.

• The Alternative Models of Ownership Review of 2017 is here.

• The “One Nation” Policy Review completed during Ed Miliband’s time as Leader in 2014 is here.

Past National Policy

To help members and supporters think about the wide range of areas where debate is needed to decide future policies, below are recent national Labour Manifestos as well as links to Manifestos right back to the first one in 1900.

Labour National Manifesto 2019

This is the Manifesto Labour stood on in 2019. A copy is here.

Labour National Manifesto 2017

This is the Manifesto Labour stood on in 2017. A copy is here.

Labour National Manifesto 2015

This is the Manifesto Labour stood on in 2015. A copy is here.

Labour National Manifesto 2010

This is the Manifesto Labour stood on in 2010. A copy is here.

Labour National Manifesto 2005

This is the Manifesto Labour stood on in 2005. A copy is here.

Labour National Manifesto 2001

This is the Manifesto Labour stood on in 2001. A copy is here.

Labour National Manifesto 1997

This is the Manifesto Labour stood on in 1997. A copy is here.

Labour National Manifestos 1900 to 1992

The Manifestos Labour stood on from 1900 to 1992 can be accessed here.

The Labour Party has an annual Policy Development Programme. More details on that are on the Labour National Policy Forum (NPF) Website.

NPF Annual Reports

The 2022 National Policy Forum (NPF) Annual Report is here. It refers to Sutton and Cheam Labour Party making a submission on page 94.

Past NPF Reports available online are at the annual links here: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012.

Underlying our policy agenda are fundamental principles that the Labour Party subscribes to. Below are national and international principles we subscribe to:

Nationally

Clause IV.
Aims and values

1. The Labour Party is a democratic socialist Party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few; where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe and where we live together freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.

2. To these ends we work for:

A. A DYNAMIC ECONOMY, serving the public interest, in which the enterprise of the market and the rigour of competition are joined with the forces of partnership and co-operation to produce the wealth the nation needs and the opportunity for all to work and prosper with a thriving private sector and high-quality public services where those undertakings essential to the common good are either owned by the public or accountable to them

B. A JUST SOCIETY, which judges its strength by the condition of the weak as much as the strong, provides security against fear, and
justice at work; which nurtures families, promotes equality of opportunity, and delivers people from the tyranny of poverty, prejudice
and the abuse of power

C. AN OPEN DEMOCRACY, in which government is held to account by the people, decisions are taken as far as practicable by the communities they affect and where fundamental human rights are guaranteed

D. A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, which we protect, enhance and hold in trust for future generations.

3. Labour is committed to the defence and security of the British people and to co-operating in European institutions, the United Nations, the Commonwealth and other international bodies to secure peace, freedom, democracy, economic security and environmental protection for all.

4. Labour shall work in pursuit of these aims with trade unions and co-operative societies and also with voluntary organisations, consumer groups and other representative bodies.

5. On the basis of these principles, Labour seeks the trust of the people to govern.

Internationally 

The Labour Party is a member of or observer to a number of International Bodies. Their Declarations of Principles can be accessed below:

Organisations that the Labour Party is a member of:

Party of European Socialists (PES)

The Progressive International

Organisations that the Labour Party is an observer to:

The Socialist International (SI) The Labour Party has been an observer member since 2013. Labour or its predecessor organisations were members of the preceding Socialist International 1889-1916, Berne International 1919-1923, Labour & Socialist International 1923-1940 and Socialist International 1951-2013. 

Though the UK has left the EU there are post-Brexit issues that still require cross-border co-operation and policy discussion so these documents provide useful background information to both current and past debates. The Party of European Socialist comprises all of Labour’s sister parties across Europe so their policy agenda helps us understand current debates on the UK’s long-term relationship with it’s EU neighbour.

Party of European Socialists Manifesto 2024

The Party of European Socialist’s Manifesto for the 2024 European Parliament elections is here.

Labour European Elections Manifesto 2019

The 2019 Labour European Elections Manifesto is here.

The Party of European Socialists Manifesto 2019 is here.

Labour in for Britain Referendum Campaign 2016 – Archive 

There is also still an archive online of Briefing Notes we locally produced for the EU Referendum Campaign which we provide as a historical record of that time.

Labour European Elections Manifesto 2014

The 2014 Labour European Elections Manifesto is here.

The Party of European Socialists Manifesto 2014 is here.

Labour European Elections Manifesto 2009

The Party of European Socialists Manifesto 2009 is here.

Labour European Elections Manifesto 2004

The 2004 Labour European Elections Manifesto is here.

The 2004 Party of European Socialists Manifesto is here.

Labour European Elections Manifesto 1999

The 1999 Party of European Socialists Manifesto is here.

Labour Electoral History

A range of useful links will be added here

LCC "After the Landslide" Statement of 1983

Neil Kinnock 1985 Conference Speech

Labour NEC Walkout 1986

Labour NEC Digital Walkout 2020