Deselection of Labour MPs

Deselection in the UK Labour Party is the process by which support for an MP is withdrawn by their local party meaning that the MP cannot stand in a forthcoming General Election.[1]

Rules governing deselection

To some MPs the Labour Party, to which they owe everything, becomes an inconvenient pressure group - except at election times when grudging lip-service has to be paid to the Labour manifesto. Reselection must be used to make clear to MPs that this elevated view of their role has had its day. Labour MPs have no rights more or less than the ordinary card carrying Party members. They are simply the party members to whom has fallen the honour of giving practical expression to the ideals of the Labour movement.

— Chris Mullin & Charlotte Atkins, How To Select or Reselect your MP, [2]

Labour Part rules specify that MPs will face a "trigger ballot" procedure where each branch of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) and each affiliate (trade union and socialist society) branch will have a simple majority vote on whether they wish their sitting MP to automatically stand again in the next general election, or whether they wish to have a full selection process.[3]

If one third or more of party or affiliate branches vote for a full selection then the sitting MP will face a vote of all party members to decide whether they want their existing MP, or an alternative candidate to represent them at the next election.[4]

History of deselection rules

Before 1970

Before 1970 the process for reconsidering support for a sitting MP required three Constituency General Committee (GC) meetings to be called for the purpose of considering whether to support the MP, followed by a meeting of affiliates to the CLP where affiliate GC delegates were mandated to vote a certain way. If the local party sought to remove their MP the MP could then appeal this decision to the NEC.[5]

The NEC was at this time controlled by the right of the Labour Party and almost invariably sided with the sitting MP and against the Constituency Party.[6] The NEC threatened to disband some CLPs which sought to change their Labour MP.[7]

1970 - 1979

The rules governing reselection were amended at Labour Party Conference in 1970 making it marginally less difficult to challenge a sitting MP. Dropping the required number of GC meetings from three to two and removing the mandating of affiliate GC delegates.[6]

The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD), founded in 1973, was set up by left wing Labour activists to organise for greater democratic representation within the Labour Party. CLPD spent the next six years organising to seek to win a rule change at Labour Party Conference to create an automatic reselection procedure for each sitting Labour MP.[5]

At Labour Party Conference in 1974 the NEC reported that they had conducted a review of the rules and concluded that no changes were required.[5] Ken Coates moved a motion to seek automatic selection at this conference which was defeated. Although CLPs submitted motions in 1975 and 1976 calling for an automatic selection procedure to be introduced these were ruled out of order on the grounds that they breached the 'three year rule'.[8][6]

67 CLPs submitted motions calling for automatic reselection to the 1977 conference. These motions were ruled out of order on the grounds that they breached the '1968 rule'[9][5] However, Ian Mikardo announced on behalf of the NEC that "We shall put down at next year's Annual Conference all the amendments to the constitution necessary to provide automatic reselection in the way and in the sense that the sponsors of those sixty-odd resolutions want. I do not think there is the least chance of the Executive reneging on that undertaking."

At Labour Party Conference in 1978 the NEC broke this commitment and did not bring forward the proposal for automatic reselection. CLPD organised for a motion on automatic reselection to be voted on. The Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW) delegates had democratically agreed to support the CLPD motion however when it came to the vote the AUEW's then president, Hugh Scanlon, voted against the CLPD motion, and it was narrowly defeated.[5] Following an intensive 12-month organising campaign by CLPD, at Labour Party Conference in 1979 a CLPD motion for automatic reselection was passed.[5]

Gavin Strang MP suggested that one of the consequences of the introduction of mandatory reselection was that MPs spent more time in their constituencies, saying "it's far more the normal thing now to have an office in the constituency, to employ someone there, and to live in the constituency. Reselection has turned MPs into better campaigners for the local party."[10]

1979 - present

In 1990 Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour Party, scrapped mandatory reselection, replacing it with a system of trigger ballots.[11]

Changes to make deselection of Labour MPs easier, by lowering the number of branches that have to vote to trigger a contest from 50% to 33%, were passed by a large majority at Labour's 2018 Party Conference.[12] However, the proposal made by a number of CLPs for open selections was not permitted to go to a vote, leading to criticism from Momentum who described the changes as "meager" with "key proposals being watered down".[13]

List of deselected Labour MPs
Name of MP Year Constituency Leader Notes
Jack Kinley 1955[14] Bootle Clement Attlee
S.O. Davies 1970[15] Merthyr Tydfil Harold Wilson
Dick Taverne 1972[16] Lincoln Harold Wilson Resigned to force a by-election which he won as "Democratic Labour"
Eddie Milne 1973[17] Blyth Harold Wilson
Edward Griffiths 1974[18] Sheffield Brightside Harold Wilson
Reg Prentice 1975[19] Newham North East Harold Wilson Subsequently defected to the Conservatives.
Frank Tomney 1976[5] Hammersmith North James Callaghan
Arthur Irvine 1977[5] Liverpool Edge Hill James Callaghan
Ben Ford 1981[20] Bradford North Michael Foot
Eric Ogden 1981[21] Liverpool West Derby Michael Foot Subsequently defected to the Social Democratic Party.
Raymond Fletcher 1981[6] Ilkeston Michael Foot
Fred Mulley 1982[22] Sheffield Park Michael Foot
Stan Cohen 1983[23] Leeds South East Michael Foot
Frank Hooley 1983[24] Sheffield Heeley Michael Foot
John Sever 1983[25] Birmingham Ladywood Michael Foot
Arthur Lewis 1983[26] Newham North West Michael Foot
Michael Cocks 1985[27] Bristol South Neil Kinnock
Norman Atkinson 1985[28] Tottenham Neil Kinnock
John Forrester 1986[29] Stoke-on-Trent North Neil Kinnock
Michael McGuire 1987[30] Makerfield Neil Kinnock
Ernie Roberts 1987[31] Hackney North and Stoke Newington Neil Kinnock
Alec Woodall 1987[32] Hemsworth Neil Kinnock
John Hughes 1989[33] Coventry North East Neil Kinnock
Sydney Bidwell 1991[34] Ealing Southall Neil Kinnock
Ron Brown 1990[35] Edinburgh Leith Neil Kinnock
David Young 1994[36] Bolton South East Tony Blair
Max Madden 1997[37] Bradford West Tony Blair
Jane Griffiths 2004[38] Reading East Tony Blair
Bob Wearing 2007[39] Liverpool West Derby Gordon Brown
Frank Cook 2008[40] Stockton North Gordon Brown
Anne Moffatt 2010[41] East Lothian Gordon Brown

This list does not include MPs who successfully overturned a vote to deselect them at the NEC.

Labour MPs deselected under each leader since 1970
Labour leader Portrait Years as leader Number of MPs deselected during leadership
Harold Wilson 1963 - 1976 5
James Callaghan 1976 - 1980 2
Michael Foot 1980 - 1983 8
Neil Kinnock 1983 - 1992 9
John Smith 1992 - 1994 0
Tony Blair 1994 - 2007 3
Gordon Brown 2007 - 2010 3
Ed Miliband 2010 - 2015 0
Jeremy Corbyn 2015 - present 0

Further reading
  • Labour Party Rulebook 2019
  • Blackburn, Tom. (2017) In Defence of Party Democracy
  • Osland, David. (2016) How to Select or Reselect Your MP: 2016 Remix ISBN 0851248616
  • Leys, Colin. Coates, David & Panitch, Leo (1997) The End of Parliamentary Socialism: From New Left to New Labour ISBN 9781859843383
  • Shaw, Eric (1988) Discipline and Discord: Politics of Managerial Control in the Labour Party, 1951-86 ISBN 0719024838
  • Seyd, Patrick. (1987) The Rise and Fall of the Labour Left ISBN 9780333447475
  • Wainwright, Hilary. (1987) Labour: A Tale of Two Parties ISBN 0701207787
  • Seyd, Patrick. (1986) The Labour Left PhD Volume 1 & Volume 2
  • Mullin, Chris. (1981) How to Reselect Your Member of Parliament ISBN 0901740748
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References
  1. "How are MPs deselected?". 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  2. Patrick Seyd. "The Labour Left" (PDF). Department of Political Theory and Institutions.
  3. "How Labour's trigger ballot system works". LabourList. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  4. PoliticsHome.com (2019-07-01). "REVEALED: Labour MPs given trigger ballot guide as 'purge' fears grow". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  5. Seyd, Patrick. (1987). The rise and fall of the labour left. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Education. ISBN 0333447476. OCLC 17952021.
  6. Seyd, Patrick (June 1986). "THE LABOUR LEFT" (PDF). Department of Political Theory and Institutions.
  7. Ranney, Austin (1965). Pathways to Parliament : Candidate Selection in Britain. Wisconsin: University of wisconsin Press. ISBN 9780299035600. OCLC 468512977.
  8. See equivalent rule in the 2019 Labour Party Rule Book chapter 3, clause II, section 2, subsection H: "When Party conference has made a decision on a constitutional amendment, no resolution to amend the constitution or rules of the Party having the same or a similar primary objective shall appear on the agenda of the three following annual party conferences, except such resolutions to amend the constitution and rules that are in the opinion of the NEC of immediate importance."
  9. This rule, introduced at Labour Party Conference in 1968, specified that any proposed constitutional rule changes at conference were referred to the NEC to consider for the following year's conference.
  10. Wainwright, Hilary. (1987). Labour : a tale of two parties. London: Hogarth. ISBN 0701207787. OCLC 16092917.
  11. "Q&A: What is deselection, and what does it mean for Labour MPs?". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  12. "Deselecting Labour MPs made easier". 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  13. Association, Press (2018-09-24). "Labour agrees MP selection rule changes despite party splits". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  14. Gildart, K.; Howell, D. (2016-04-30). Dictionary of Labour Biography. Springer. ISBN 9780230293489.
  15. Leonard, R. L. (Richard Lawrence) (2005). Elections in Britain : a voter's guide. Mortimore, Roger, 1965- (5th ed.). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230629639. OCLC 70181448.
  16. "Dick Taverne: "Some of the Labour Party people have absolutely nowhere to go"". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  17. Panitch, Leo. (2001). The end of parliamentary socialism : from New Left to New Labour. Leys, Colin, 1931- (2nd ed.). London: Verso. ISBN 1859843387. OCLC 59521118.
  18. "In Defence of Party Democracy". New Socialist. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  19. Ley, Shaun (2015-11-30). "Deselection fear hangs over Corbyn's critics". Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  20. Pomper, Gerald M. Voters, Elections, and Parties: The Practice of Democratic Theory. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781412841122.
  21. Jones, Peter (November 2002). Party, Parliament and Personality: Essays Presented to Hugh Berrington. Routledge. ISBN 9781134821211.
  22. "Obituary: Lord Mulley". The Independent. 1995-03-16. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  23. "Stan Cohen". Daily Telegraph. 2004-03-01. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  24. Ley, Shaun (2015-11-30). "Deselection fear hangs over Corbyn's critics". Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  25. McSmith, Andy. (1997). Faces of labour : the inside story. London: Verso. ISBN 1859840930. OCLC 37721381.
  26. Heffernan, Richard (1992). Defeat from the jaws of victory : inside Kinnock's Labour Party. Verso. ISBN 0860913511. OCLC 464988506.
  27. Roth, Andrew (2001-03-27). "Obituary: Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  28. Goodman, Geoffrey (2013-07-09). "Norman Atkinson obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  29. "Stoke-on-Trent MP's". www.thepotteries.org. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  30. McGuire, Sean (2018-11-22). "Michael McGuire obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  31. Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (1999). The Almanac of British Politics. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415185417.
  32. "Alec Woodall: MP who fought for the rights of miners and servicemen". The Independent. 2011-01-12. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  33. Butler, D.; Kavanagh, D. (1992-10-20). The British General Election of 1992. Springer. ISBN 9780230372092.
  34. Butler, D.; Kavanagh, D. (1992-10-20). The British General Election of 1992. Springer. ISBN 9780230372092.
  35. "Former MP 'Red' Ron Brown dies". 2007-08-04. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  36. "David Young". The Independent. 2003-01-16. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  37. "Labour MP deselected". The Independent. 1997-02-17. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  38. "Griffiths is first 'Blair babe' to be deselected". The Independent. 2004-02-23. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  39. Turner, Ben (2007-09-17). "Rebel MP Bob Wareing axed by Labour". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  40. "'No surprise' at party deselection". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  41. correspondent, Severin Carrell Scotland (2010-03-19). "Scottish MP Anne Moffat sacked by Labour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-30.

See also
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