Miliband tables plan to dilute union power in Labour leadership elections

Scheme will allow registered supporters to vote in union section of party’s electoral college Ed Miliband has tabled proposals to allow a new registered supporters’ group to vote in elections for the Labour leader and deputy leader. The proposals mean the supporters’ group will be able to vote in the union section, diluting the role of unions in leadership elections. Unions currently hold one-third of the vote in the leadership electoral college, with MPs claiming another third and constituencies the remaining third. But Miliband has been forced to defer plans to change voting powers at the Labour conference, leaving unions with 50% of the vote until a further review, due to be completed in the spring, can set out further, specific proposals. The Labour leader is also proposing that some multiple voting be banned, meaning MPs in the leadership election will only be allowed to vote in their section. A union affiliate will be able to vote twice if they are a party member – once in the union section and once in the party membership section. Miliband’s supporters claim he is backing large changes amounting to the biggest reforms to the party rule book for 20 years, but union leaders are likely to be pleased that they have not felt forced to give ground, at this stage, on whether their voting power at conference should be reined in. The registered supporters’ scheme will be run by local parties, and it remains to be seen whether there is a group of people who are interested in supporting the party but not going so far as to join it. Some people believe registered supporters could open the way to US-style primaries. Party sources said the unions had agreed for the first time that local parties would be able to communicate directly with union levy payers in their constituencies. At present, local parties do not have access to union political levy membership lists, leading to complaints that unions are controlling their members and not letting them be contacted by candidates directly, especially if they are opposed by the union hierarchy in a party leadership election. There are as many as 3 million political levy payers, and Miliband regards them as an untapped resource for the party. The proposals are due to be discussed at a meeting of the national executive, and then will go through party conference next week. Ed Miliband Labour party leadership Trade unions Labour Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 20, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.