Councillors’ representation in Labour is derisory, argues Nick Forbes

A living wage. Bursaries to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds stay in education. Massive council housebuilding programmes. Stimulus packages to create jobs and revitalise flagging economies. Reforms placing people, not profit, at the heart of public sector services. Not a wishlist for a 2015 incoming Labour government, but work being done now, in extraordinarily difficult circumstances, by Labour-run councils around the country. Nearly 7,000 elected Labour councillors in the UK are the cheerleaders for Labour: the leafletters, the doorknockers, the frontlines of attack and defence against our political opponents. Whether in opposition or control locally, we are the people who are building and maintaining community links, keeping CLPs alive including those in the key marginals that Labour needs to win at the next general election. Many Labour groups fund vital local organisers, benefitting MPs, MEPs and police commissioners as well as councillors. This means that Labour councillors currently contribute £1.8m directly, and an additional £4m indirectly, to the party each year; this is £2.5m more than Unite gave Labour in 2012, and makes Labour local government collectively now the single biggest financial backer of the Labour party.

Party structures have failed to recognise this, and representation of local government within the formal party machinery is derisory. Of the members of the National Executive Committee, only two – Dave Sparks and Ann Lucas – represent councillors, compared to 11 trade union reps and two socialist society reps. And there are only eight councillor reps on the National Policy Forum, which has responsibility for developing a manifesto for the next election, while there are 31 trade union reps and 77 CLP reps. Yet in councils we know how to revitalise teams after election defeats, how to oppose coalitions and how to put together a realistic and progressive political platform even when there is less money around. The opportunity to draw on the experience of Labour local government in power is being squandered.

This structural deficit means that the party often forgets local government when it comes to election planning, policy development and candidate recruitment. A legitimate criticism of both the last Labour government and the current frontbench is that too much planning and policy is ‘place-blind’ – the temptation to focus on national political dividing lines and pursue a London-based press strategy overlooks the huge value in connecting with people at a local level. At a time when politics is increasingly about trust, and being seen to deliver for local communities, this is a growing problem. And Labour councillors are getting increasingly frustrated by the hollowness and pathetic game-playing within the NEC exposed by the fallout from the Falkirk selection debacle.

The Labour party rulebook requires the NEC to ‘maintain a healthy party at all levels’ and ‘maintain a balanced relationship between all party stakeholders’. It is clear that party structures have not kept pace with the growing strength and significance of local government, and the Collins review of party structures is an opportunity to redress this imbalance. Just as it matters who runs town halls, it matters who runs our party – and the current marginalising of Labour councillors is not sustainable if we are to genuinely become a ‘One Nation’ party, grounded in reality and working collectively for a progressive future.

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