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| Labour EC meetings are really not like this..... |
February is the busiest month of the year for me. So it’s the worst time to receive a nominations paper for the AGM of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland, and have to decide whether I want to spend another year on the Executive Committee. Which, on balance, I do.
But the process this year has made me think about the difficulties of getting people to devote some of their spare time to running a political party, and most specifically to running the Labour Party in NI.
Part of the problem may be that we can’t stand for elections. We can’t offer anything to people who want a career in politics, at least if they want to stay in Northern Ireland. Although that means we don’t have to deal with unscrupulous types who don’t care which party they ‘represent’, some want to be politicians in order to do good and change the world (stop laughing at the back there). They are the ones who will put in the work. We want them and we need them.
Another problem, linked to the first, is that in NI we have no access to paid staff, with the exception of an organiser in the Compliance Unit (love it) who sends out the AGM notification and ballot paper. For this I pay £43 a year. Everything else has to be done locally, which means EC members are likely to actually have to do some work. Very offputting for those who like the sound of their own voices but mysteriously disappear between meetings.
More fundamental, though, is the pressure of modern life. I’ve been very struck by the number of issues, both work-related and personal, that have affected my EC comrades over the past year. Certainly in my own case I have to be extremely careful not to take on too much, due to the demands of my job – and paid work must come first.
Of course, not everyone is up to their eyes in their job. Some are unemployed or retired, and we have great contributions made from both groups on the EC and in the Party more widely. But they don’t cover the complete range of skills and knowledge which we need. The EC of a political party is like any management team – you need to get the right people in, and then give them the job that best suits their abilities and aptitude.
I wonder if all the people we need are there amongst our 350-odd members, and we just haven’t been able to communicate to them how much their contribution would be welcomed. We are in the process of building a branch structure, which will help with getting new people involved. But I also wonder if difficulties with finding volunteers are more widespread. If we are all too busy to be part of something wider than work and our family, civil society suffers and that’s not good for any of us.
4 comments:
The answer is to change the structure of your executive. so that you do not lose people who have knowledge experience and skills to help move the party forward.
Also a move out of Belfast into branch development may expose the new talent so badly needed.
A party with real ambition would not a describe former Executive member as "whinger" or an experienced, talented campigning woman from England as "weak Labour who may resign"!
An audit of the membership undertaken last year exposed talent in the party, but largely ignored by the self focused CLP Executive it is hardly surprising that the same faces from the same places continue to run things their way.
If the thrust of your plea is accurate then it will pleasing to see you push the Excutive toward branch development and training instead of wasting limited resources on attendance at conference and a absolute waste on a fringe event. The work is in the back yard and I look forward when the Labour CLP comes to my area.
Anon - you clearly have useful inside knowledge. Although everything you say is true, the other side of the picture is that every political party and other civil society organisation has to work with what it has. It is actually the case that some of the brightest spraks on the EC during the year of my experience have walked away from it for various reasons. You have to be tough - but also diplomatic - to succeed in political activity and some of our best assets fell at the first hurdle.
I have found a good survival guide to be:
(i) Assume no-one values you or cares about you as a person; you have to prove your worth and make yourself indispensible. The only exception to this is that if you are female you'll be in demand to make up a quota, and *then* ignored. Look at yourself from the perspective of others and assess how threatening they find you; helps in judging their behaviour (e.g. as an English middle class older woman there are some people I will never win round and I just have to accept this)
(ii) Assume there are cabals going on of which you are not a part - you can never be too paranoid!
(iii) Only lose your temper with people if you're sure that they will never ever prove a threat to you in future, i.e. never lose it with anyone
(iv) Never go into politics in order to make friends - if you're not there to change the world then forget it
I agree with you that every orgainsation has to work with what it has - but few would allow the talent and energy within to walk away so easily.
The LPNI CLP has as you say allowed some bright sparks to walk and resign. This is not a reflection on their lack of robustness, toughness, loyalty or even lack of politcal sense I would argue it is a reflection on the the orgainsation itself. Until the unhealthy habits and self focus is eradicated more will join the exodus.
In (iv) that is the problem - the LPNI is not involved in Politics it is consumed with orgainsational positions and not political organisation.
Anon - I think Labour EC members could have done more to make some people feel welcome and valued over the past year, but it's a two way street and those of us who are new to the EC need to appreviate and value the work that has been done in the past. For example, I have no contact at all on the NEC so haven't been able to lobby in the way our trade union comrades have done.
I think a major failing has been to identify the skills of EC members and match them to the time available in order to get the best out of everyone. You are right there was also a skills audit and I shall ask what has happened to that data. Some people may not want to attend endless meetings but do have particualr skills e.g. web design or database design which might be useful to us.
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