Constituency Labour Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales.
The CLP selects the local Labour Party candidate for a national parliamentary General Election, from the Labour Party's Panel of approved candidates. In certain circumstances the National Executive Committee has powers to overrule this decision, which has on occasion proved controversial. The NEC will also decide whether the selection will be carried out from an open or all-women shortlist.
A CLP's two main decision-making bodies are normally its General Committee or General Management Committee (GC), and its Executive Committee (EC). The GC is made up of delegates elected from the Branch Labour Parties (BLP), local branches of affiliated Trade Unions, Socialist Societies, the local branch of the Co-operative Party, BLP secretaries and CLP officers. The EC is generally constituted in the same manner but with fewer delegates from each branch and affiliate.
The Branch is the basic local geographic unit for the Labour Party, and is where local party members gather at the most local level. It tends to cover one or more local authority wards.
As a result of changes proposed as part of the Party's 21st Century Party review, some CLPs have chosen to make changes in the way that they run. Some CLPs have merged the GC and EC into a single committee, whilst some CLPs have abolished the GC entirely and organize all-member meetings to take decisions. Other CLPs, particularly in urban areas divided between a number of constituencies, have chosen to combine their activities with neighbouring CLPs.
CLP committees have generally met on a monthly basis however some have chosen to meet more infrequently and organise all-member meetings or policy forums in intervening months. Changes to the standard model of operation for CLPs require permission from the Party's National Executive Committee, however in practice this authority is often devolved to the appropriate Regional Director in England or the Scottish or Welsh General Secretary.
There are seven key officers in each CLP - the Chair, two Vice Chairs, Secretary, Treasurer, Women's Officer, and Youth and Student Officer. CLPs may appoint additional functional officers, such as Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Oficer, Campaign Co-ordinator, IT Officer, Fundraising Officer, Disabilities Officer and Trade Union Liaison.
The CLP elects representatives to national Party structures, including delegates to Labour Party Conference and nominates candidates for election to other Party position such as with the National Policy Forum and the National Executive Committee, as well as Party structures within Scotland, Wales or the appropriate English region.
CLPs also elect representative to Local Government Committees (LGCs) which aim to get Labour Councillors elected and then oversee the work of Labour Councillors on a specific principal local authority. Where the boundaries of a local authority are the same as those used for a parliamentary constituency the GC will also assume the role of LGC.
For much of the Labour Party's history, especially during the 1980s, CLPs were perceived as the more leftwing faction in the Labour Party, with the unions being a more moderate or pragmatic force.
At present no CLPs are recognised in Northern Ireland, although there is the unofficial South Belfast Constituency Labour Party.
