Labour has had a National Membership Scheme since 01/01/1989 and all the data below cover that. At some point we will add data from when it was first reported in 1928. In the meantime this useful Parliament Research Report covers that period in chart form.

A current summary of all political party membership is here.

And a table covering 1928 to 2012 is here.

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).

The data below specifies what type of membership total it is:

A useful academic study is here: 

Labour Membership Data - 1989-2012

This will be "Total Membership" which is the number usually publicly given by the Party.

I have added who was leader at the time the Annual Report 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.

Detail:

Neil Kinnock era

• 1989: 293,723 

• 1990: 311,152

• 1991: 261,233 

John Smith era

• 1992: 279,530 

• 1993: 266,270 

Tony Blair era

• 1994: 305,189 

• 1995: 365,110 

• 1996: 400,465 

• 1997: 405,238 

• 1998: 387,776 

• 1999: 361,000 

• 2000: 311,000 

• 2001: 272,000 

• 2002: 248,294 

• 2003: 214,952 

• 2004: 201,374 

• 2005: 198,026 

• 2006: 182,370

Gordon Brown era

• 2007: 176,891 

• 2008: 166,247 

• 2009: 156,205 

Ed Miliband era

• 2010: 193,961 

• 2011: 193,300 

Paid up Membership from 2012 (ie eligible to vote in internal elections) courtesy of NEC Member Ann Black.

• 30/03/2012: 178,005 NEC election (approx date)

• 26/06/2014: 181,932 NEC election

Jeremy Corbyn era

• 12/08/2015: 294,035 Leadership election

• 12/01/2016: 373,443 Leadership/NEC election (held summer 2016, early cut-off)

• 01/07/2017: 538,606 CAC election (approx date)

• 16/11/2017: 525,779 NEC by-election

• 22/06/2018: 506,320 NEC election

• 11/11/2019: 430,359 NEC by-election (cutoff 10 weeks before leadership election)

Keir Starmer era

• 20/01/2020: 552,835 Leadership election

• 24/08/2020: 495,961 NEC election

• 31/01/2021: 455,737 NEC report - plus 56,799 in arrears

• 10/05/2021: 440,399 NEC report - plus 48,636 in arrears

• 05/07/2021: 430,926 NEC report - plus 35,200 in arrears

• 15/09/2021: 410,000 Approx total

• 01/07/2022: 378,688 NEC election (approx date)

• 23/03/2023: 378,578 NEC report - plus 17,233 in arrears

• 01/08/2024:348,469 NEC election (approx date)

• 25/11/2024: 318,370 NEC report - plus 20,147 in arrears

• 28/01/2025: 308,783 NEC report - plus 21,174 in arrears

Labour Party Accounts

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.

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.

National Policy Development

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.

Declarations of Principles 

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. 

Past and Current European Policy Debates

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.

Test

Test

2025 Nominations

Test

STV Elections in Labour

2020 NEC Elections

STV explanation here and here 

Tell 

Collins Review

The "institutional turn" in Labour since 2020

Background documents prior to then

Labour Unions

Labour First

Test

Neil Kinnock 1985 Conference Speech

Labour NEC Walkout 1986

Labour NEC Digital Walkout 2020

Test