National Executive Committee

For the NEC of the South African political party the ANC, see National Executive Committee (African National Congress). For the NEC of the Scottish political party the SNP, see Scottish National Party#Party organisation.

National Executive Committee
Headquarters	London, England
Chair	Paddy Lillis
Vice-Chair	Ellie Reeves
Parent organisation	Labour Party
Website	Labour.org.uk/NEC

The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the chief administrative body of the Labour Party. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party, constituency Labour parties, and socialist societies, as well as ex officio members such as the Party Leader and Deputy Leader and several of their appointees.

During the 1980s, the NEC had a major role in policy-making and was often at the heart of disputes over party policy. In the Tony Blair era, the committee's role declined and its membership was reformed, but it remains the administrative authority of the party. Its former policy development function is now largely carried out by the National Policy Forum. One of its committees has disciplinary powers including the ability to expel members of the party who have brought it into disrepute or to readmit previously expelled members.

The Labour History Archive and Study Centre, in the People's History Museum in Manchester has the full run of the minutes of the National Executive Committee in their collection.^[1]

Membership

As of 2015, the NEC had 33 members elected from the following constituencies:

1: Leader of the Labour Party
1: Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
1: Treasurer
3: Opposition Front Bench (MPs nominated by the Shadow Cabinet)
1: EPLP Leader
1: Young Labour
12: Trade Unions
2: Socialist Societies and BAME Labour
6: Constituency Labour Parties
2: Labour Councillors
3: PLP/EPLP (Backbench MPs or MEPs elected by all Labour MPs and MEPs)

In addition, the PLP Chief Whip, PLP Chair, Scottish Labour Leader and Leader of the Labour Group in the National Assembly for Wales attend ex-officio without a vote.

The General Secretary acts as the non-voting secretary to the NEC.

Current members

Leader of the Labour Party

Jeremy Corbyn MP (Leader of the Labour Party)^[2]

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

Tom Watson MP (Deputy Leader of the Labour Party)

Treasurer

Diana Holland (Treasurer)

Frontbench MPs

Jon Ashworth MP (Opposition Front Bench)
Angela Eagle MP (Opposition Front Bench)
Rebecca Long-Bailey MP (Opposition Front Bench)

EPLP Leader

Glenis Willmott MEP (EPLP Leader)

Young Labour

Jasmin Beckett (Young Labour)

Trade unions

Keith Birch [Unison] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Jamie Bramwell [UCATT] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Jennie Formby [Unite] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Andi Fox [TSSA] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Jim Kennedy [Unite] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Andy Kerr [CWU] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Paddy Lillis [USDAW] (Chair – Div. I - Trade Unions)
Martin Mayer [Unite] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Pauline McCarthy [BFAWU] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Wendy Nichols [Unison (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Cath Speight [GMB] (Div. I - Trade Unions)
Mary Turner [GMB] (Div. I - Trade Unions)

Socialist Societies and BAME Labour

James Asser (Div. II - Socialist Societies)
Keith Vaz MP (Div. II - BAME Labour)

CLPs

Johanna Baxter (Div. III - CLPs)
Ann Black (Div. III - CLPs)
Ken Livingstone (Div. III - CLPs)
Ellie Reeves (NEC Vice-chair - Div. III - CLPs)
Christine Shawcroft (Div. III - CLPs)
Pete Willsman (Div. III - CLPs)

Labour Councillors

Cllr Ann Lucas (Div. IV - Labour Councillors)
Cllr Alice Perry (Div. IV - Labour Councillors)

PLP/EPLP

Margaret Beckett MP (Div. V - PLP/EPLP)
Shabana Mahmood MP (Div. V - PLP/EPLP)
Dennis Skinner MP (Div. V - PLP/EPLP)

Chair of the Labour Party

The chair of the party is elected by the NEC from among its own members, and holds office for a calendar year, chairing both NEC meetings and national party conferences.

The name of this post has become confused since 2001 when Labour Party leader Tony Blair appointed Charles Clarke to the courtesy position of "Party Chair" without the NEC or the national conference authorising such a position.^[3] The office's name remains "chair of the party" in the Labour Party Constitution, but elsewhere the party presents the position as "Chair of the NEC".^[4] Prior to 2001 the position was called "Chair of the Labour Party", and before that "Chairman of the Labour Party".

List of Chairs of the Party

(Information taken from 'British Political Facts 1900-1994', Butler & Butler 1994, PP144–5 the period down to 1993).

Chairmen of the Annual Conference of the Labour Representation Committee^[5]

1900: William Charles Steadman MP

1901: John Hodge

1902: William John Davis

1903: Joseph Nicholas Bell

1904: John Hodge

1905: Arthur Henderson MP

Chairmen of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Representation Committee^[6]

1900: William Charles Steadman MP

1901: Allan Gee

1902: Richard Bell MP

1903: John Hodge

1904: David J. Shackleton

1905: Arthur Henderson MP

Chairmen of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party^[7]

1906: Arthur Henderson MP

1907: J. J. Stephenson

1908: Walter Hudson MP

1909: John Robert Clynes MP

1910: Keir Hardie MP

1911: William Cornforth Robinson

1912: Ben Turner

1913: George Henry Roberts MP

1914: Tom Fox

1915: No conference held

1916: William Crawford Anderson MP

1917: George Wardle MP (acting)

1917-18: W. F. Purdy

1918-19: John McGurk

1919-20: William Harold Hutchinson

1920-21: Alexander Gordon Cameron

1921-22: Fred Jowett MP

1922-23: Sidney Webb MP

1923-24: Ramsay MacDonald MP

1924-25: Charlie Cramp

1925-26: Robert Williams

1926-27: Frederick Roberts MP^[8]

1927-28: George Lansbury MP

1928-29: Herbert Morrison MP

1929-30: Susan Lawrence MP

1930-31: Stanley Hirst

1931-32: George Lathan MP

1932-33: Joseph Compton

1933-34: Walter R. Smith

1934-35: William Albert Robinson

1935-36: Jennie Adamson

1936-37: Hugh Dalton MP

1937-39: George Dallas (no conference in 1938)

1939-40: Barbara Gould

1940-41: James Walker MP

1941-42: Walter Henry Green MP^[9]

1942-43: Alfred Dobbs

1943-44: George Ridley MP

1944-45: Ellen Wilkinson MP

1945-46: Harold Laski

1946-47: Philip Noel-Baker MP

1947-48: Emmanuel Shinwell MP

1948-49: Jim Griffiths MP

1949-50: Sam Watson

1950-51: Alice Bacon MP

1951-52: Harry Earnshaw

1952-53: Arthur Greenwood MP

1953-54: Wilfrid Burke MP

1954-55: Edith Summerskill MP

1955-56: Edwin Gooch MP

1956-57: Margaret Herbison MP

1957-58: Tom Driberg

1958-59: Barbara Castle MP

1959-60: George Brinham

1960-61: Richard Crossman MP

1961-62: Harold Wilson MP

1962-63: Dai Davies

1963-64: Anthony Greenwood MP

1964-65: Ray Gunter MP

1965-66: Walter Padley MP

1966-67: John McFarlane Boyd

1967-68: Jennie Lee MP

1968-69: Eirene White MP

1969-70: Arthur Skeffington MP

1970-71: Ian Mikardo MP

1971-72: Tony Benn MP

1972-73: William Simpson

1973-74: James Callaghan MP

1974-75: Fred Mulley MP

1975-76: Tom Bradley MP

1976-77: John Chalmers

1977-78: Joan Lestor MP

1978-79: Frank Allaun MP

1979-80: Lena Jeger

1980-81: Alex Kitson

1981–82: Judith Hart MP

1982–83: Sam McCluskie

1983–84: Eric Heffer MP

1984–85: Alan Hadden

1985–86: Neville Hough

1986–87: Syd Tierney

1987–88: Neil Kinnock MP

1988–89: Dennis Skinner MP

1989–90: Jo Richardson MP

1990–91: Tom Sawyer

1991–92: John Evans MP

1992–93: Tony Clarke

1993–94: David Blunkett MP

1994–95: Gordon Colling

1995–96: Diana Jeuda

1996–97: Robin Cook MP

1997–98: Richard Rosser

1998–99: Brenda Etchells

1999-00: Vernon Hince

2000-01: Maggie Jones

2001-02: Margaret Wall

2002-03: Diana Holland

2003-04: Mary Turner

2004-05: Ian McCartney MP

2005-06: Jeremy Beecham

2006-07: Michael Griffiths

2007-08: Dianne Hayter

2008-09: Cath Speight

2009-10: Ann Black

2010-11: Norma Stephenson

2011-12: Michael Cashman MEP

2012-13: Harriet Yeo

2013-14: Angela Eagle MP

2014-15: Jim Kennedy

2015-16: Paddy Lillis

References

↑ Collection Catalogues and Descriptions, People's History Museum
↑ Labour's National Executive Committee – The Labour Party http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/labours-national-executive-committee
↑ Roy Hattersley (26 July 2001). "Blair mistook his Clarke for a chair". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
↑ "NEC committees". Labour Party. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
↑ 'British Political Facts 1900-1994', Butler & Butler 1994, PP144-5
↑ Kevin Jefferys, Leading Labour: From Keir Hardie to Tony Blair, p.4
↑ 'British Political Facts 1900-1994', Butler & Butler 1994, pp.144-5 for the period down to 1993
↑ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
↑ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.

External links

National Executive Committee (About Labour)

Labour Party

Leadership

Leaders	Hardie Henderson Barnes MacDonald Henderson Adamson Clynes MacDonald Henderson Lansbury Attlee Gaitskell Wilson Callaghan Foot Kinnock Smith Blair Brown Miliband Corbyn

Deputy Leaders	Clynes Graham Attlee Greenwood Morrison Griffiths Bevan Brown Jenkins Short Foot Healey Hattersley Beckett Prescott Harman Watson

General Secretaries	MacDonald Henderson Middleton Phillips Williams Nicholas Hayward Mortimer Whitty Sawyer McDonagh Triesman Carter Watt Collins McNicol

Treasurers	Henderson MacDonald Henderson Lathan Greenwood Gaitskell Bevan Nicholas Davies Callaghan Atkinson Varley Booth McCluskie Burlison Prosser Elsby Dromey Holland

Leaders in the Lords	Haldane Cripps Ponsonby Snell Addison Jowitt Alexander Pakenham Shackleton Shepherd Peart Hughes Richard Jay Williams Amos Ashton Royall Smith

PLP Chairs	Hardie Henderson Barnes MacDonald Henderson Hodge* Wardle* Adamson Clynes MacDonald Henderson Lansbury Attlee Lees-Smith* Pethick-Lawrence* Greenwood* Gaitskell Wilson Houghton Mikardo Hughes Willey Dormand Orme Hoyle Soley Corston Clwyd Lloyd Watts Cryer

* = wartime, in opposition

Internal elections

Leadership elections	1922 (MacDonald) 1935 (Attlee) 1955 (Gaitskell) 1960 1961 1963 (Wilson) 1976 (Callaghan) 1980 (Foot) 1983 (Kinnock) 1988 1992 (Smith) 1994 (Blair) 2007 (Brown) 2010 (Miliband) 2015 (Corbyn)

Deputy Leadership elections	1952 (Morrison) 1953 1956 (Griffiths) 1959 (Bevan) 1960 (Brown) 1961 1962 1970 (Jenkins) 1971 1972 (Short) 1976 (Foot) 1980 (Healey) 1981 1983 (Hattersley) 1988 1992 (Beckett) 1994 (Prescott) 2007 (Harman) 2015 (Watson)

Shadow Cabinet elections	1979 (Callaghan) 1980 (Foot) 1981 (Foot) 1982 (Foot) 1983 (Kinnock) 1984 (Kinnock) 1985 (Kinnock) 1986 (Kinnock) 1987 (Kinnock) ... 1992 (Smith) 1993 (Smith) 1994 (Blair) 1995 (Blair) 1996 (Blair) 2010 (Miliband)

Organisation

Structure	Constitution Clause IV Rule Book National Executive Committee Labour Party Conference National Policy Forum General Secretary Treasurer Constituency Labour Party Branch Labour Party Socialist societies Association of Labour Councillors Parliamentary Labour Party Labour Chief Whip European Parliamentary Labour Party London Labour Party Scottish Labour Party Welsh Labour Labour Party in Northern Ireland Affiliated trade unions Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation Co-operative Party Labour Co-operative Young Labour Labour International

Related organisations	Christians on the Left Compass Fabian Society Young Fabians Grassroots Alliance Jewish Labour Movement Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform Labour CND Labour Friends of Israel Labour Party Irish Society Labour Representation Committee (2004) Labour Students LGBT Labour LabourList National Union of Labour and Socialist Clubs Progress Socialist Appeal Socialist Health Association Socialist Educational Association Socialist Environment and Resources Association Socialist Campaign Group Socialist Youth Network Tribune

History and related topics	History of the Labour Party (UK) General election manifestos History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom Lib–Lab pact New Labour Tony's Cronies Blue Labour One Nation Labour

Alliances	Party of European Socialists Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Progressive Alliance Socialist International

Northern Ireland	Social Democratic and Labour Party Labour – Federation of Labour Groups

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