NEC MEETING – July 28th 2026
What a time to be alive – and on the NEC! A summer that has brought us a new Prime mInister, a resounding victory in the Manchester mayoral contest and a bounce in the polls that suggest we are at peak Reform [although let’s not get too optimistic with that]. But as someone involved in the devolution movement in the nineties and noughties I am excited by all the attention that is now being paid to devolution.
This is a shorter report than usual. Ballots have dropped in the NEC elections and voting is taking place until noon Thursday August 27th. I am asking that you give me your first preference and support my colleagues Abdi, Peter and Angie – all statements are here
Peter Wheeler was in the Chair for the start of the meeting and noted how much has changed since we last met. He also allowed tributes to be paid to Cllr Shanika Mahendran, Lord Roy Hattersley and Sir George Howarth amongst others.
General Secretaries Report
Hollie Ridley has worked for the Party for almost 16 years and recently announced she would be leaving. She thanked everyone for the opportunity to be General Secretary, but actually you make your own luck and seeing a working class girl from Dagenham rise to the highest position in the Party has been brilliant. The timetable for announcing her successor has not yet been decided but it will be this current NEC that appoints.
Hollie will leave us at the end of the annual conference but in the meantime she is busy ensuring preparations are in place for the conference. There have also been some changes in senior staff: Claire Steward is taking a more senior role, John Stolliday has returned to the fold to head up Governance and Legal Unit and Dan Howard will be head of Campaigns. I would just add a personal note of recognition to Andy Smith, the lead organiser in the North West, who retired last Saturday. A good friend and absolute stalwart.
Most recently the Party has had to oversee a leadership election in the most unique of circumstances. Operationally the Party has also had to be flexible and fleet of foot because of the number of significant by-elections. This means finances take a hit. So far every election has been fully funded, but as ever funding remains a challenge. Longer term it is important to make sure we have a war chest ready for the next general election.
Whilst there will be some rule changes in place in time for the conference, I remain concerned that we still have not really addressed the governance and accountability of mayors, something I keep coming back to. I also share Ann Black’s concerns raised at the meeting about the lack of member involvement with the recent election. I have no problem with the outcome, but the process disenfranchised members. I also asked if Regional Directors can put in place a regional Next Generation programme to encourage, mentor and signpost our young talent. Not everyone wants to be an MP but there are some brilliant career paths and we should be training young people in the regions and not expecting everyone to go down to London
The NEC welcomed Bridget Phillipson MP and new Chair of the Labour Party. She gave a quick overview of the party’s trajectory on campaigning and our need to innovate.
She was followed by fellow Sheffielder Lou Haigh MP as the recently appointed First Secretary of State [ the only other female Secretary of State was Barbara Caste and to be fair, I can see the similarities]. Lou explained how the ambition is to rewire Whitehall and to meet the country’s desire to see us move faster and see changes in their communities. She will be the political lead on the devolution drive and the role of mayors will be crucial in this delivery.
There were some interesting and valid points made about the role of procurement [ Mark Ferguson MP will be the lead Minister on this] and about fiscal devolution [ Dan Tomlinson will be the lead on this]. I asked about reviewing the Barnett formula which is outdated and needs revisiting and pressed for greater fiscal devolution to really help our mayors deliver in their localities.
Two other things to note was the willingness to have that discussion about a reset of relations with the European Union and the emphasis on hope and optimism rather than negative briefing during the Makerfield campaign, where Labour’s vote share increased from 24% to 55%.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham
Andy started by paying tribute to Kier and to Holly, both have given us a platform to carry the Party forward. He also recognised that we are all one team taking the fight to the populist right and that hope is the best antidote to hate.
He made it clear that he is instinctively a team player and has tried to ensure continuity and also breadth in the new team and to build a culture of people being supportive [and please stop the briefings]. It is obvious though that he intends to have a reset of the culture in Whitehall with a strong emphasis on No 10 North driving delivery and growth in every postcode.
He then took us through a number of key policy areas starting with tackling the water industry which is a prime candidate for greater public control [and the same for energy]. Tackling the problems with social care is an obvious priority with a national care service model before the next election and he has asked Louise Casey to bring her report forward. The pathways for young people must be made easier with apprenticeships on a parity with university route. He also said that the recent policy initiatives on pubs and high streets is just a start and he would be looking at more restrictions on things like adult gaming centres/vape shops.
Andy took a wide range of questions varying from the high cost of student loans, homelessness, partnership with local government, under-representation of Black people as special advisers, and resilience in fire and rescue services while half of Europe was on fire. I asked him consider adopting Regional Select Committees and Regional Ministers, introduced by Gordon Brown in 2007. Anneliese Midgley as Chief Whip is going away to consider this.
Other things of note during the meeting:
There was some tidying up of amendments [nothing controversial] although note changes to appendices in the rulebook do not need conference approval and so members may want to look at Appendix 4 on selections.
CLPs can continue to hold hybrid meetings in accordance with guidelines
The second year of the NPF cycle has seen some 1,600 submissions – note that PR and electoral reform still feature strongly
Makerfield, and subsequently the Manchester mayoral by election showed us that voters can be brought back although nothing should be taken for granted
Lucy Powell, Education secretary remains as deputy leader, which she plans to continue as a political role.
Local govt finance cannot be left where it is and that needs urgent review. Also, we need to think how we get back all those good councillors we lost.
We have a new leader in Wales
MPs reselections have already started although I’m not sure where