Young Labour (United Kingdom)

Last updated
Young Labour
Chairperson Miriam Mirwitch [1]
Founded 1993
Preceded by Labour Party Young Socialists
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Ideology Social democracy
Democratic socialism
Mother party Labour Party
International affiliation International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY)
European affiliation Young European Socialists (YES)
Website www.younglabour.org.uk

Young Labour is the youth section of the UK Labour Party. Membership is automatic for Labour Party members aged 14 to 26. [2]

The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom which has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party's platform emphasises greater state intervention, social justice and strengthening workers' rights. Labour is a full member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance, and holds observer status in the Socialist International. As of 2017, the party was considered the "largest party in Western Europe" in terms of party membership, with more than half a million members.

Contents

It exists to involve young people in the Labour Party and ensure that the aspirations of young people are reflected in Labour’s policies in power. Young Labour members are able to get involved in the Labour Party through local policy events, campaigning or by attending events and social gatherings.

Young Labour hosts an annual conference, alternating between national committee elections and policy conferences every other year. Young Labour also holds a range of additional national events, including fringe sessions at the Labour Party's annual conference.

Young Labour is affiliated to both the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and Young European Socialists (YES).

International Union of Socialist Youth

The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international organization, founded in 1907, whose activities include publications, support of member organizations and the organization of meetings. It was formed as the youth wing of the Second International under the name Socialist Youth International. IUSY now has 145 member organisations - including 122 full members and 23 observer members - from 106 countries. IUSY gained status as an international youth NGO with UN ECOSOC consultative status in 1993.

Young European Socialists European social-democratic student association

Young European Socialists (YES), formerly the European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth (ECOSY), is an association of social-democratic youth organisations in Europe and the European Union.

History

Young Labour was founded in 1993 by a Labour Party annual conference motion in Brighton, proposed by Tom Watson, seconded by Brian Whitington, then Chair of the Labour Party Young Socialists, and supported by then National Executive Committee Youth Representative Claire Ward.[ citation needed ] Before 1993 young people in Labour had been represented by the Labour Party Young Socialists.

Tom Watson (Labour politician) British politician (Labour)

Thomas Anthony Watson is a British Labour Party politician who was elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich East since the 2001 general election and was Minister for Digital Engagement and Civil Service Issues at the Cabinet Office from 2008 to 2009.

The Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) was the youth section of the Labour Party in Britain from 1965 until 1993. In the 1980s, it had around 600 branches, 2,000 delegates at its national conferences and published a monthly newspaper, Socialist Youth. From the early 1970s, it was led by members of Militant.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development.

In October 2017 Young Labour's annual conference called for banks to be publicly owned, and for Britain to withdraw from NATO, and described US President Donald Trump as a "fascist". [3]

NATO Intergovernmental military alliance of Western states

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries. The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949. NATO constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. NATO’s Headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons, Belgium.

Donald Trump 45th president of the United States

Donald John Trump is the 45th and current president of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality.

Fascism form of radical authoritarian nationalism

Fascism is a form of radical, right-wing, authoritarian ultranationalism, characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy, which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe. The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I before it spread to other European countries. Opposed to liberalism, Marxism and anarchism, fascism is placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum.

Membership fee

Members of the Labour Party aged 14 to 26 are automatically members of Young Labour. [4]

Structure

Young Labour National Committee

The Young Labour National Committee acts as the executive of the organisation. It includes a chair, the National Executive Committee (NEC) youth rep, an international officer, five liberation officers, two ordinary reps, five trade union reps, three Labour Students reps, and 11 regional reps. In addition, the Labour Party appoints a permanent secretary to act as facilitator, National Policy Forum youth reps appoint a vice chair (policy), and the youth wings of affiliated organisations, such as the Co-operative Party and the Fabian Society, are able to appoint a representative. [5]

Labour Students is the official, autonomous student wing of the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It is a network of affiliated college and university clubs, known as Labour Clubs, who campaign in their campuses and communities for Labour’s values of equality and social justice.

The National Policy Forum (NPF) of the British Labour Party is part of the policy-making system of the Party, set up by Leader Tony Blair as part of the Partnership in Power process. A Provisional National Policy Forum had been established by Blair's predecessor, John Smith, in May 1993.

Co-operative Party British political party, in an electoral pact with the Labour Party

The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fairer treatment of co-operative enterprise and to elect 'co-operators' to Parliament. The Party’s roots lie in the Parliamentary Committee of the Co-operative Union established in 1881.

Chair of Young Labour

Between 1991 and 2009 the Chair of Young Labour was appointed by the Labour Party.[ citation needed ] Reforms passed by the Labour Party's annual conference saw the creation of a democratically elected chair, voted for by delegates at Young Labour's national conference, to serve a two-year term. The first election took place in 2009.[ citation needed ] In late 2017 the Labour Party's NEC changed the system so that the Chair of Young Labour is elected by a one-member-one-vote ballot of young members. [6] It was reported that over 7,000 young members voted in the 2018 election. [1]

Elected chairs of Young Labour

  • 2009–11, Sam Tarry [7]
  • 2011–13, Susan Nash [8]
  • 2013–16, Simon Darvill [9] [10]
  • 2016–18, Caroline Hill [11]
  • 2018–, Miriam Mirwitch [1]

National Executive Committee Youth Rep

Delegates at Young Labour's national conference also elected the Youth Rep to sit on the Labour Party's NEC. The election operated under an electoral college, with a third of the vote for young member delegates, a third for Labour Students delegates, and a third for delegates from affiliated trade unions and socialist societies.

For the 2018 election, the system was changed, with half of the vote allocated to young members through a one-member-one-vote ballot and half allocated to block votes by affiliated trade unions and socialist societies. [6]

Local groups

Young Labour groups exist at a local, regional, or national level supporting the activity of the wider Labour Party and feeding in to Young Labour through its national committee.

The national groups are

Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland Scottish Young Labour

Flag of Wales 2.svg  Wales Welsh Young Labour

Flag of Northern Ireland.svg  Northern Ireland Young Labour NI

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Miriam Mirwitch elected as Young Labour Chair". Labour List. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Splash - Official Labour Organisation Sites". Younglabour.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  3. ↑ Fisher, Lucy (2017-10-16). "Young Labour Calls for Nato Withdrawal". The Times. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  4. ↑ "Labour Join Donate Renew". Join.labour.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  5. ↑ "Young Labour National Committee 2013-15 - Labour Youth". Younglabour.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  6. 1 2 "Jeremy Corbyn allies accused of 'stitch up' after changing election rules for key committee post". The Independent. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Sam Tarry becomes chair of Young Labour « Birmingham University Labour Students". Bulsonline.org. 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  8. ↑ "Youth Conference, February 2011". 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  9. 1 2
  10. ↑ "Youth Elections 2013: The Results". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "Young Labour on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  12. ↑ "The young idealist who took on the old hand". Telegraph. 2001-03-16. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  13. ↑ "Chocoholic with the willpower to stay on-message". Telegraph. 2001-06-06. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  14. ↑ "Loughborough University Institutional Repository : Panelism in Action" (PDF). Dspace.lboro.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  15. ↑ "The big squeeze (From Herald Scotland)". Heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  16. ↑ "Inside Labour's Bermuda Triangle". Socialist Party. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  17. ↑ Claire McCarthy. "Speaking from the heart | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  18. ↑ Claire McCarthy. "A thoroughly modern conference | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  19. ↑ "The young ones | Progress | News and debate from the progressive community". Progressonline.org.uk. 2002-06-06. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  20. ↑ "nec_march2001". Annblack.com. 2001-03-27. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  21. ↑ "About me". Jonathanreynolds.org.uk. 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  22. ↑ Anderson, Joe (2012-01-26). "Jonathan Reynolds MP announced as the new Vice Chair Youth". LabourList. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  23. ↑ "Young Labour at the heart of the fightback « Labour Uncut". Labour-uncut.co.uk. 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  24. ↑ Anderson, Joe (2011-02-12). "Young Labour conference 2011: Liveblog". LabourList. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  25. ↑ "Young Labour on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
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