Labour Conference 2023 – Chelmsford CLP Delegates’ Report

As your CLP delegates, we are thrilled and proud to be able to report back to you following this year’s Annual Conference in Liverpool. Overall, there was a real buzz around the event that is likely to have been the last of its kind before the next general election. Labour MPs, and members more widely, seemed to feel confidently that the party was a credible party of power and that Keir Starmer was currently fronting a government-in-waiting. In contrast, reports coming out of the Conservative Party Conference seemed to indicate that the opposite sentiments generally prevailed. is an exciting time to be a member of the Labour Party and we are confident that with the efforts of members in Chelmsford and across the country, Labour can unseat and replace the destructive Tory government which has overseen the managed decline of the UK for the last 13 years.

 

Saturday

Although Conference did not begin in earnest until Sunday morning, I attended the reception hosted for Eastern members on Saturday evening. Various senior party figures made appearances including Emily Thornberry, Anneliese Dodds, David Evans, Yvette Cooper, and even Keir Starmer himself. It was also a good opportunity to meet some fellow delegates from the East of England, all of whom were firmly convinced and inspired by the assertion of various speakers that ‘the road to Downing Street runs through the Eastern region’!

 

After the reception, a large number of Conference attendees migrated to the Icon nightclub in Liverpool City Centre for the official Labour LGBTQ+ Disco to kick off the opening night of conference in style!

 

Sunday

On Sunday morning, we picked up voting papers and other materials for the week at the Eastern region delegate briefing, including voting papers and the Day 1 Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC) Report. Formal proceedings then began in Conference Hall at 11:00. Throughout the day, a number of Shadow Cabinet Ministers addressed the Conference, including Angela Rayner, Anneliese Dodds, and Pat McFadden. David Evans, General Secretary of the Labour Party, also delivered a speech.

 

At 15:00, the first round of democratic formalities commenced. The results of the Priorities Ballot were announced, confirming the motions to be debated over the course of the next few days. We had utilised the six votes afforded to each CLP to vote for the following issues:

 

• Access to cash
• An NHS fit for the future
• Asylum and immigration
• Electoral reform
• Free school meals
• Reform of Universal Credit

 

Out of the 12 issues ultimately chosen by delegates, the only one of our selections that was included was ‘An NHS fit for the future’. However, the vast majority of the 40+ issues were very worthwhile, meaning that the debate agenda was one for the party to be proud of.

 

The Sunday afternoon session concluded with votes on constitutional amendments that had been proposed by the National Executive Committee. All of the delegates who rose to speak at this point argued either for or against one particular proposal. The controversy that had been generated was in relation to the restructuring of CLPs to ‘get them election ready’, in the words of the NEC, by removing voting rights from all but six CLP officers. Speakers in favour highlighted that this would allow for less cumbersome CLP Executive Committees and more streamlined decision making, with smaller CLPs who struggle more to fill the large number of existing positions being likely to experience the greatest benefits. However, opponents of the amendment highlighted how this move would actively disenfranchise marginalised communities who had been empowered by previous converse changes to CLP structure in the past, such as LGBT+, BAME, and Disability Officers. The eight delegates who spoke on the amendment were split 50/50 in their assessments. 

 

We decided to vote against the amendment. We were convinced by the reasoning of those who spoke against it and we had also previously consulted with the rest of the current Chelmsford CLP Executive, who had voiced their overall discontent with the proposed changes. The results of the votes on the constitutional amendments were published in the following morning’s CAC Report which showed that the amendment had passed after 60.6% of delegates voted in favour of it and 39.4% voted against. 

 

Because Chelmsford CLP had not submitted any motions for debate, we were not obliged to attend any composite meetings, like delegates from CLPs whose motions had been successful in the Priorities Ballot were so we were able to explore the ‘fringe’. Louis attended a panel on local government, and also listened to Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting in conversation with editor-in-chief of the Guardian.

 

On Sunday evening, Ione attended the reception “Making Every Child Matter Again: Putting Children and Young People at the Heart of the Next Government ”. The event was convened by the children’s charities coalition of Action for Children, Benardos, The Children’s Society and the NSPCC. Chaired by Helen Hayes MP, Shadow Minister for Children & Early Years, discussions were had with policy makers on putting children and young people at the heart of the next government. 

 

Monday

On Monday, we split our time between Conference Hall and the fringe. The speech by Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves was the highlight of the day but unfortunately, our allocated delegate seats were given away to other attendees, despite us arriving 30 minutes before her speech began, obviously demonstrating the widespread anticipation of her address. We were still able to watch her speech from the sidelines. She did a great job and it is really encouraging to see how receptive major economists and other senior figures in the economy have been to her plans. 

 

The rest of the day in Conference Hall saw addresses from Lisa Nandy, David Lammy, Ed Miliband, Anas Sarwar and Mark Drakeford, among many others. A number of delegates again rose to speak, this time for or against the issues that had been chosen for debate within Sunday’s Priorities Ballot. The fervour for internal democracy was encouraging and the confidence and passion exuded by all the speakers was inspiring. At the end of the day, the Conference voted by a show of hands overwhelmingly in favour of seven of the 12 motions, with the other five also being overwhelmingly passed at the end of the afternoon session on Tuesday.

 

On Monday, Louis attended a variety of fringe events, including a panel of local government experts discussing whether the current funding crisis can be reversed, a forum of tax experts including celebrity economist Paul Johnson which was convened by the Institute for Fiscal Studies discussing what changes Labour could make to the taxation system, and a Labour Friends of Palestine event which was hastily reworked to principally address the violent and tragic escalations which had began unfolding only two days prior on Saturday. Louis also attended a handful of training sessions at the Labour Party stand in the exhibition centre, which were very useful and included lots of great tips for our future activities and campaigns.

 

Ione attended a “Labour Beyond Cities” fringe event regarding the breaking of the class ceiling in politics. Discussions were had about accessibility in running for elected positions for the working class. Some issues addressed were the need for funding to run a campaign, the time needed off work to run a campaign and simple things such as the cost of a smart wardrobe for campaigns (these options aren’t viable or realistic for everyone). Some  individuals suggested that running for office should become a democratic right. In the same way your employer must pay your time off if you attend jury duty, discussions were had about implementing this if you wish to run for office. 

 

Ione and Louis finished the day by attending drinks with Dagenham and Rainham’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Margaret Mullane, Unmesh Desai  the Greater London Assembly Member for City & East and members of the GMB Union.

 

Tuesday

The obvious highlight of Tuesday’s speech was Keir Starmer’s speech. Not wanting to be caught out in the same way as we had been with Rachel Reeves’s speech, we made sure we were queueing 90 minutes before the designated start time, by which point dozens of others were also already in line!

 

Despite the initial glitter mishap, Keir Starmer rallied and spoke with passion. He revealed more about his humble beginnings to becoming a barrister, director of public prosecutions and now The Labour Party leader. 

 

He appealed directly to Tory voters, encouraging them not just to abstain at the next election but to switch to Labour stating: “Labour will fight for the union, will defend family life, will keep taxes down and will be pro-business.”

 

In addition he offered what he called “an entirely new approach to politics” vowing to oversee a “decade of renewal” should Labour win the next election. He set out his mission promising to build 1.5 million new homes.

 

As well as voting on the issues from the Priorities Ballot, there were two particular matters that delegates were required to vote on with pre-distributed voting papers. These elections were to select two members of the Conference Arrangements Committee and five members of the National Constitutional Committee. In both instances, we voted for those nominees who were part of the ‘Labour To Win’ slate, and the ensuing CAC reports confirmed that all of these nominees were elected with overwhelming majorities. 

Ione Hepworth and Louis Dearmer