The Labour Party launched a full-scale review of its policy-making machinery this week amid widespread unhappiness at how it works, and calls from across the party for the system to be democratised.
Party members are being invited for their views on reforming the National Policy Forum, set up in the early 1990s. Labour officials are considering scrapping large “Warwick-style” meetings held over several days, according to a consultation paper.
Douglas Alexander, a Shadow Cabinet Minister and former election co-ordinator, admitted to a fringe meeting that the NPF was “not trusted or respected by nearly enough party members” and that this year’s manifesto bore little relation to the process.
Daniel Zeichner, former parliamentary candidate for Cambridge and an NPF member since its launch, said a more authoritative chair should be chosen to replace Shadow Business Secretary Pat McFadden: “The first thing it needs in my view is a political sponsor of the highest level”.
It was more important for the party leader to trust the NPF than to change its structure, he added.
Ellie Reeves, co-chair of the foreign policy commission, said “I want members to have a greater say in decision making”, expressing frustration that a decision at Warwick in 2008 to lower the voting age to 16 had not been included in the manifesto.
