Whose block vote is it anyway?

Whose block vote is it anyway? UR ES FEA *We are not going to get rid of the block vote and leave ourselves at the mercy of the constituencies*, said one unnamed senior member of Labour's shadow cabinet, quoted

then been carried through into Labour the same time union general secrelaries trolling and containing their members! views and activities rather than repre- It goes without saying that despite all this there have been occasions when the unilateralism debate. But in the vast majority of tories have been won here which have ways be strictly observed, but when they're blatantly breached, the member- ship may have some come-back. But, at can also usually hold sway on controver- rial decisions (which might be defined as those they haven't managed to stitch up heforehand), fulfilling their role of con- block vote has been cast to the left's ad- vantage - notably this year in the Party policy making. They may not al- senting them. John Edmonds: In favour of smaller block vote As more unions have affiliated to the Labour Edginton Wayne PHOTO: without leaving more space for the much ganised - constituency Labour Party In this simple and honest statement, he (odds on it was a he) summed up the very complex consitutional problem facing Labour's leaders They desperately want to respond to media pressure by doing away with the influence not only of the left in the party's policy making procedures. but with the trade unions' key role too, So far they have managed to marginalise the left, only with the reliable assistance of quired votes at conference. Party managers know that they can't remove those votes But the pressure is mounting Hardly u trade union top brass delivering the ro- less reliable - as they are presently or- in The Independent recently.

cases it is use simply to put a brake on anything turous or unknown. Even if the unions don't follow the Labour Icader's line every time, reliable partners for cosy deals, as against Icav- ing decision-making to delegates and votes The current arrangements ure clearly un- democratic. This has led to a situation where not only are trade union members effectively disenfranchised and prevented from having any real influence over Labour Party policy because of the way their vote is cast, but at the same stroke, party members are carved out too. CLPs are basically irrelevant to national Labour Party left of the leadership - or even just a bit adven- they're preferred by party fixers as much more among the ordinary members of the trade policy-making, and they know it. unions and the Labour Party. the votes cast al conference. This block vote is The trade unions also effectively elect 20 of leader and deputy leader. Between 60 and 70 Party over the years, their share of the votes on its policy making bodies, and particularly con- ganisations held between them over 82 percent of conference votes; by 194584 percent, rising to 88 per cent by 1956. The present strength of the block vole is now around 91 per cont of all calculated on the basis of the affiliation fee paid by the unions- it is "bought", ratherthan related to the actual number of affiliated members in the 29 National Executive Committee (NEC) placcs, and have a 40 per cent share of the elec- By 1935 the trade unions and affiliated or ference, has increased correspondingly. toral college for the clection of tho week goes by withnut another leading Labour thinker' (in the New Statesman mould) or "doer" (MPs and trade union leaders) rushing to nock, Bryan Gould, Michael Meacher, John Edmonds, Gavin Laird as well as Ron Todd and Tony Benn have all come out in favour of chan- ges in principle, though with different formula tions up for discussion. The media have already been at it for months, with political conmen- ly consistent shopping list for their required Labour Party sell-outs on unilateralism and the Since October's Labour Party Conference leadership of the Transport and Goncral Workers Union (TGWU) looking like it might pin their sail to the mast of constitutional reform. Most recently Robin Cook, Neil Kin tators surely caucusing to produce a remarkab the debate has gained momentum. leadership of the

demands. So far though, most initiatives in that Labour Party. They have been swallowed up in with decision in principle by the NEC in 1983, in redress some of the balance in favour of Proposals. Under the outline drawn up by Aler SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 11 December 1988/January 1989 The case for allowing constituencies to take a fairer proportion of votes at conference has been raised in the past by the left in the party (prominently in recent years by the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy) and from time to time the more progressive union leadership have been pushed into responding to these direction have met what is a common fate in the a swump of bureaucratic mismanagement and The issue was first raised in recent yearx af the 1979 conference. Consultation followed CLPs. This was followed by more consultation from which finally emerged the Kitson body), are effectively in the hands of four or per cent of the party's bills are paid by the trade So the unions" affiliations bring two impor- tant retums for Labour's leaders. They meet much of the party's running costs and they also make sure that decisions taken at conference (which is still, in theory, the party's sovereign Trade union delegations to Labour Party conferences are top heavy and largely un- democratic. Most are composed of a combina- countable paid full-time officials, and elected (lay) executive committee members and sentativestoo. However, these "Lay individuals may, in some unions (like the GMB general tion of unelected and therefore largely unac: union) themselves in fact be full-time paid of- usually regional and sometimes minority repre five union general secrelanes: unions their present voting strength of over drawn up hy leading Fabian Sidney Wchb. have mind of its own by opposing Kinnock on some questions, an attempt to weaken the trade union link is now being billed as a prerequisite for Labour's electability, strengthening the leader's authority over conference. Although historically, of course, supporting the leader at: conference has generally been what the trade The party's constitution gives the trade ninety per cent al conference. It has survived virtually intact since its adoption at the first full Labour Party conference in 1918. The deal, fobbed off the socialists with the never-to-be- implemented Clause Four and gave the much more conservative trade unions the control- unions have been best at

stituencies as a useful (if general secrctary of the TGWU and an NEC mem- ber, CLPs would have had about a 20 per cent share of Despite receiving wide support from the con- Kitson, then depuly the conference vote.

inton gi аупе fate. It was wound up after limitod) First step forward, his report was shelved and A subsequent intrative, a ing Party* set up from the 1986 Labour Party Con- Despite organised left *Balance of Votes Work- fcrence, mel an even worse only one abortive meeting. never went to conternue.

same time as we will he arguing for more votes. of menibers not to attend meetings (yes, really. socialist Labour Movement, the question of ried out? How can the interests of minorities best be safeguarded, promoted even? How do you fight the tendency for a bureaucritic layer As with all difficult questions: there are no unions (of building shop stewards" committees, of the growing pressures representation of regional and minority interests) should be our And of course an organised left at all levels democracy and politics - more fundamentally- That is, from the bottom up. Because at the for CLPs and delending the party" link with the unions against the right's attacks, we must be conscious of the urgent need to democratise the I's an eary demand to raisc, but it needs To the right wing, it mean simply the 'rights" Whitty's "member's charter 1), and to be asked to fill in a form every so often. The press is al- ready demanding that 'Mr Kinnock should in- dicate that he does not intend to pay the slightest reached as a result of hlock votes boing cast But with a vision of a more genuinely union democracy must be approached from the starting point of the need to build a participatory and genuinely representative movement, with its sights set clearly on the interests of the work- This, of course, raises many difficult ques- tions. Like how can membership participation he increased? What realistic measures can he taken to enahle memhere to make sure their voices are heard, their decisions count and car- easy answers But the experience in some starting point, and are useful building blocks for of the movement will he an absolute prereq uisite for building and developing that this is point one of part general secretary Larry attention to fulure conference decisions... without adequate prior consultation" (ic ballot- sume detailed attention to address it seriously. to develop. and at all levels of organisation? developing our strategies. casier to remove what class-based politics it any moves to increase CLP's voting strengths in the party structures. There are a number of sentation" of minority positions in casting of know that rocent discussion in these pages har highlighted the need for socialists to tackle the ference to a media event — and proposals are al- ready being considered by the Conference So it's no great coincidence that at the same time ther are now renewed calls recently from project, for unity And a founder member of the SDP, writing in the press rocently, explicitly cited trade unionism, unilateralism and Clause With a conference which is potentially even more tame than under the present system, reck- on the party fixers, "unpopular" policies like unilateralism and Clause Four will be all Lie So the moves are aimed not just at the party's top structures. They go through policy, right to its roots. Under attack is the link - which, al- though it may be imperfect, abused and misused under the present system - ties the damental feature of the British Labour Party It is the link too, that the left should be vigilant in defending. Removing the class- hased'structures of the party will make it all the Such a defence need not imply a rejection of possihic forumlations under discussion on the left already, including a 50/50 splir, an electoral All these options deservé serious attention, and the left more than anyone, should he dis- cussing the altematives and preparing to come Regular readers of Socialtst Outlook will block vote problem - and that of union the New Statesman, and Ben Pimlor's nauscat- (deals) under the banner of non-Tory Labour Party to the working class. Thisis a fun- which sets it apart from purely bourgoois par- college-type division, and proportional repre- up with some specifics. It must be ready to cam- Four as the obstacles to such a pact. ingly mis-named "Samizdat" But it can't stop there. paign hard for them too. Procedures Committee. SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 11 December 1988/January 1989 surprising that progress has been slow in com- pressed by the poople who really count under the present system (that is, those who have the votes arcady) has gotlittle to do with 'justice! The right have got their own, different. ference voting. Whatever proposals (if any) are brought forward under their recently an- nounced enquiries into the extension of one- member-one-vote and the reduction of the block vote, the are unlikely to result in handing over decision making power to the rank and Because at the heart of what they're up to is tus parallel concern with one-member-onc- vote. Initial proposals which went through this yeur party conference add up to a chatter - not for members rights - but for total control by wing GMB Icader John Edmonds, want to trade off a reduced block vote (variously, 40, 50 ot increased from the present 300,000 orso to their (unlikely) one million target. At the same time they'd like direct access through computersed licipation in the party will, they hope, wither to tunities, presumably, as the party can afford) rather tban participating in building the party cause, if il is left with any role at all, it will still he min from the top down. Such a move would also have two other advantages. First, it will answer recent media criticisms (the evermiedia- sensitive party managers don't seem to have Secondly, it will leave wide open the party's options for future deals with the SLD/SDP (who have always paraded the block-voting system and more generally the trade union link us their sticking point). Failing this (the "mass! membership/block vote trade off, moves will But clearly the new interest in reform ex- reasons for their sudden concern with con- the leadership over a passive, if massive, mem- bership. Kinnock and more explicitly, right- 60 per cent), if individual memhership can be records to those members. Member whose par- just filling in ballot forms (on as many oppor- That way conference can he kept sale, he- twigged yet that there will always be more!): be made anyway to reduce the role of con consituencies to establish a pressure from within the fairer system, it's not and policy-making. or democracy.

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