8 important priorities for Conference debate – four of which NOT to vote for

Tomorrow morning Labour’s annual Conference opens with the ‘Priorities Ballot’. This is one of the ballots where only one vote is cast on behalf of each CLP, so it’s important for left-wing delegates to get there and vote early as it’s possible for a minority right-wing delegate – in CLPs (constituency Labour parties) where most but not all of the delegates are left-leaning – to cast a CLP’s vote against the wishes of most of its members.

Eight priority areas for debate will be selected from the many submitted. There are eight important areas for debate but – perversely – it’s vital that CLP delegates do not vote for four of them, because of a quirk in Labour’s rules and procedures.

CLPs and unions each get to choose four priorities – and the unions have already decided which their priorities will be. This means that a CLP vote for them is a wasted vote, as they’ve already been selected to go onto the Conference timetable.

The four areas that have already been selected by unions are as follows:

Growth and investment
Public sector pay
Workers rights
Grenfell

The four that Campaign for Labour Democracy (CLPD) and Momentum are asking CLP delegates to support are:

Housing
NHS
Social care
Rail

CLPs whose motions fit into the successful categories in the priorities ballot will be invited to attend a compositing meeting on Sunday evening to discuss how to combine their motions into a single motion per successful topic, for debate at the Conference.

CLPD and Momentum are specifically asking their supporters not to vote for other areas and not to support the inclusion of Brexit, which is considered to be a potentially time-consuming cul-de-sac and a topic that will be covered elsewhere.

To ensure that these vital items are included in the Conference debate timetable, it’s important that CLP delegates voting on behalf of their CLP vote for these four and no others, to avoid diluting support.

Please note – and share so that delegates are aware and don’t waste their votes or let unfruitful items take up valuable conference time.

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