I’ll level with you. This conference was make or break for me. After 18 months of an inward-looking leadership focused more on purging the Left than opposing the Tories, of a leader with no charisma and even fewer policies, I was ready to leave the party. A soul destroying conference would be the last straw. And there are few parameters by which you could say this conference was a monumental success for the Left. The membership and democratic structures of the party came under a full-on attack at this conference. So why have I come home with a renewed sense of hope and fight?

Let’s start with the bad stuff. Because, let’s face it, there was an awful lot to be despondent about:

a) Prior to conference, and even as they made their way to conference, delegates were being suspended from the party, some physically prevented from entering the conference hall. David Evans is emphatic that this was due to legacy complaints only now being considered but it’s hard to see this as anything but a cynical attempt to purge the Left and skew the balance of power on conference floor.

b) Chairing (with the notable exception of Yasmine Dar) was heavy-handed and manipulative, in particular that of Margaret Beckett who, for example, waved the first CAC report through on a murmur without requesting even a show of hands and then refused all subsequent complaints because ‘it had already passed’. She continued throughout the first day in the same vein: approval of the NEC report was surreptitiously tagged onto approval of another report. It passed and we’d moved on before anyone even realised what had happened let alone had a chance to complain. Points of order were repeatedly refused throughout conference until, in the end, they decided that points of order had to go through a side desk for assessment before getting near the stage. There were few points of order after that. Ian Hodson, National President of the Bakers’ Union, was condescendingly asked if he was a first-time delegate when raising a point of order that a card vote should not be taken until all delegates had received their cards.

c) Debates were manipulated (for example multiple speakers were given access to the stage to claim the rule change designed to restore the whip to Jeremy would give Conference power over sexual harassment cases while the movers of the motion were given no right of reply to oppose this misinformation) and the discussion on the EHRC report, in particular, was tightly stage managed, with the debate being opened by Ruth Smeeth and Margaret Hodge and including a standing ovation for Louise Ellman’s return to the party. In actual fact, the new independent disciplinary system is anything but given that the NEC (and thus General Secretary) can now effectively act not only as judge, jury and executioner but as police and prosecution as well. Plus grounds for subsequent appeal are now extremely limited. This proposal goes against natural justice and should have been more strongly opposed but the debate was framed in such a way and in such a hostile atmosphere that any dissenting views were quite frankly made to feel most unwelcome. It felt like an opportunity to tar and feather the Left and it was milked for all it was worth.

d) NEC rule changes were largely passed while CLP ones fell (the only exception being the requirement for a five-person panel, including representatives from the local party, to undertake shortlisting when there is no time for a normal process i.e. a by-election or snap general election).

In terms of the NEC’s constitutional amendments, the return to an electoral college was ditched at the last minute despite desperate attempts to divide the unions through one-on-one meetings with union leaders. This was considered a step too far even for unions supportive of the leader.

All other rules designed to suppress the Left did pass, however. A good summary of constitutional rule changes can be found here: https://labourlist.org/2021/10/every-rule-change-at-labour- conference-2021-what-it-means-and-how-it-passed/. You will see that they were grouped together and voted on as bundles, making it impossible to challenge certain elements without throwing others out with the bathwater. Broadly speaking, the changes regarding national equalities and national student structures are to be welcomed. They have come as a result of the Democracy Review and will create more democratic structures.

I’d like to mention one bundle in full, however, in order to illustrate the breakdown of the vote: Card Vote 19: “Getting Labour election ready”. These changes:

1. a)  increased the proportion of MPs that a candidate needs to secure in order to get on the ballot in a leadership election from 10% to 20% of MPs;
2. b)  raised the threshold needed for a ‘trigger ballot’, whereby local parties can submit incumbent MPs to a full selection process ahead of an election, to a majority of party and affiliate branches (these form an electoral college, with party branches voting with a weight of 50% and affiliate branches with a weight of 50%);
3. c)  scrapped the ‘registered supporter’s category; and
4. d)  introduced a six-month freeze date, meaning members must have six months continuousmembership prior to the timetable being agreed for the election of national officers of the party.

All of these are designed: to prevent another Left candidate emerging for leadership; to give MPs in safe seats a job for life, and to prevent people from joining the party to vote for a leader.

If we look at the actual votes cast, however, these show that the Right were not as predominant as they may have thought among CLP conference delegates:

Actual votes cast:

CLP, for: 192,868 (47.14%)
CLP, against: 216,219 (52.86%)
Affiliate, for: 1,189,038 (60.20%)
Affiliate, against: 786,083 (39.80%)
Overall percentage (CLP and affiliates each amounting to 50%): CLP, for: 23.57%
CLP, against: 26.43%
Affiliate, for: 30.10%
Affiliate, against: 19.90%
Total, for: 53.67%
Total, against: 46.33%

It can be seen that in this and other of the card votes, it was the union vote that swung the decision, with a majority of CLP delegates voting AGAINST. And here lies my first reason for hope: with Unite voting against these rule change packages, a different vote from just one union, Unison, would have caused many of these rule changes to fall. This union’s position may be very different at future conferences. Unison’s recent EC elections showed a significant swing to the Left, albeit unfortunately too late to influence the make up of its delegation to this conference. Things may be very different in just a year’s time.

Second reason for hope: the radical policy motions passed by conference (albeit immediately scotched by varying Shadow Cabinet members) were inspirational. The Right only seemed energised by the rule changes. After that, they were strangely silent, with debates absolutely dominated by the Left. From my CLP, for example, our three right-wing delegates only turned up sporadically while our Left youth delegate was firmly in her seat the whole time. It seems that the Right of the party only came to conference to pass constitutional amendments that will remove agency from our members (under the guise of making Labour electable again!). It seems clear they do not care about members, they do not care about democracy, they do not care about accountability and they are not interested in a progressive agenda to get Labour into government and improve our country. Member after member came onto the stage to extol good Socialist policies, the majority of which were passed with an overwhelming majority:

a)  A £15 minimum wage and sick pay at living wage https://labourlist.org/2021/09/labour- conference-backs-15-minimum-wage-and-sick-pay-at-living-wage/

b)  Labour for a Green New Deal https://labourlist.org/2021/09/labour-for-a-green-new-deal- policy-motion-backed-by-conference/
c)  The strongest ever Israel and Palestine motion, including sanctions and an end to apartheid:https://labourlist.org/2021/09/labour-conference-passes-young-labour-israel-and-palestine-

motion
d)  The right to food, public ownership, publicly-funded and publicly-run NHS, a national care service, mental health in the workplace, LGBT+ rights https://labourlist.org/2021/09/labour- passes-policy-on-nhs-social-care-public-services-lgbt-rights/

The most popular motion sent to conference (by more than 150 CLPs) was a motion committing the party to Proportional Representation. A close show of hands in the hall meant that it went to a card vote whereby 79.51% of Constituency Labour Party delegates backed the motion, while 95.03% of affiliates voted against, the motion thus falling.

In other business:

1. a)  David Evans was ratified in post by a card vote.
2. b)  Anna Dyer and Annabelle Harle unfortunately lost their seats on the NCC but Emine Ibrahimand Rheian Davies were successful in retaining/gaining positions.
3. c)  Alice Perry and Johanna Baxter were elected Chair and Vice-Chair of the NEC respectively.
4. d)  The Bakers’ Union unfortunately decided to disaffiliate during conference. This was a verysad day, after 119 years of affiliation, but given the threat of auto-expulsion facing their President and the loss of their place on the NEC to the Musicians’ Union, it was hardly surprising.
5. e)  The Leader’s Speech. This was one of the longest and emptiest speeches I’ve ever had the misfortune to sit through, delivered poorly and devoid of content. It was a good job I took my Morning Star. I certainly know his dad was a tool maker now, though, and while there was some focus on crime and justice, work and family, there was little else.

Third reason for hope: my third reason for hope lies in the sheer number of members I met, not only in conference but in radical and inspiring fringe events (the Tribune Rally and Socialist Campaign Group Rally to name but two) who are ready to stay and fight. There are so many young members, in particular, who are staying put. The Left is very much alive and well in Young Labour, ably led by Jess Barnard. The real hope for our party lies in those members and they’re not walking away. They need our support. They are a true beacon of hope for the future. I’m going nowhere.

Elaine Bolton was a Unite delegate to Labour Party Conference 2021 and a member of the CLPD EC