Labour, Liberal and SDP Conferences 1981
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P No. 21 16th November 1981 40p Labour, Liberal and SDP Conferences 1981 Conservative Research Department exercised its 1,250,000 block vote. Its behaviour highlights the lack of real 1. THE LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE democracy in the Labour Party's voting systems. Shortly before the At the Labour Party's 80th Annual Conference, held at Brighton from 27th conference the TGWU carried out a consultative ballot of its members. September to 2nd October 1981, the Right of the party was able to claim Seven out of the union's ten regions showed votes in favour of Mr Healey, crumbs of comfort from Mr Healey's win in the Deputy Leadership contest and among branches, 767 preferred Mr Healey, 362 wanted-Mr Bonn, and and certain changes in the National Executive Committee, but the Left won 340 opted for Mr Silkin (Times, 25th September 1981). In defiance of the where it mattered and obtained the Conference's approval of extreme views of the union membership, however, the TGWU national executive policies on the economy, disarmament, Europe, private health, education advised its delegation to the conference to vote for Mr Berm As it and the police. As Mr Alex Kitson, Chairman of the Labour Party and acting happened, the TGWU's vote went on the first ballot to Mr Silkin, who is General Secretary of the TGWU, said: "This conference and this conference sponsored by the union, and on the second to Mr Berm. alone, decides the principles of policy and it is the Parliamentary Labour Mr Benn's victory was denied, however, by the abstension of some 37 Party which then implements those principles. I say quite frankly that MPs in the second ballot. On the first ballot, out of 254 who were eligible to unlike the services of this or that individual, the policies agreed by the Party vote, 125 MPs voted for Mr Healey, 65 for Mr Silkin. and 55 for Mr Benn. The are not dispensable" (Daily Telegraph, 28th September 1981). remainder, including Mr Foot, took no part in the voting. In the final vote, As he tries to hold this declining party together, Mr Michael Foot's task is 137 MPs cast in favour of Mr Healey and 71 for Mr Benn. Among the 37 who not enviable. Fundamental divisions of opinion remain, and with the abstained were some noted Left-wingers, such as Mr Neil Kinnock. constituency parties, which are proceeding with compulsory reselection of Miss Joan Lestor, Mr Stanley Orme, Mr Douglas Hoyle, Mr Jef f Rooker and MPs, so overwhelmingly dominated by Bennite activists, the struggle for Mr Joe Ashton. power in the party will undoubtedly continue. (Since the conference, Mr Ben It was little surprise then that Mr Benn and his supporters should have Ford, the Labour MP for Bradford North, has been 'sacked' in favour of a spent much of the rest of the week attacking the parliamentary party for their Trotskyist.) The moderate forces in the Parliamentary Party were further alleged betrayal. Mr Benn said he wanted the parliamentary party "to have a weakened in the week following the conference when five Labour Members better internal democracy so that it is never again told it is there being a dog of Parliament left the Party and joined the Social Democratic Party (see p. licence issued by the Prime Minister. It is there to be the spokesman of the 403). This tally has since increased by the addition of Mr Eric Ogden, MP for working class movement" (Guardian, 29th September 1981). Liverpool, West Derby. The Labour vote fell disastrously in the Croydon North-West parliamentary by-election on 22nd October, and a Labour GLC Mr Benn elaborated his views in an interview in the Communist seat was lost to another defector to the SDP, Mrs Anne Sofer, on 29th newspaper, the Morning Star. He said there was a need for a new grouping in the party, under the name of the Labour Representation Committee, by October. which title the Labour Party was known between 1900 and 1906. Such a Deputy Leadership body would, said Mr Benn, "bring the Parliamentary and the rank and file and the trade union activists together ... You can't mobilise the rank and file The bitterly contested fight for the Deputy Leadership of the Party came to without also having people who are going to work for it in Parliament" its climax at a special Sunday evening session at the opening of the (Morning Star, 1st October 1981). conference. The election was the first to take place under the controversial system of an electoral college, the structure of which was agreed at a Mr Ken Livingstone, Labour leader of the Greater London Council, told a special conference at Wembley on 24th January 1981 (see Politics Today Trotskyist weekly newspaper, Socialist Organiser, that the vote for No. 3, 23rd February 1981). In the college, trade unions took the largest Mr Benn marked a Left-wing advance. He said that the vote was "a major share of the vote, 40%, and MPs and the constituency parties had 30% achievement for the Left. Three years ago Healey was the next Labour each, Prime Minister - now he's clearly a spent force. The transformation of the Labour Party into a socialist party is clearly irreversible now that process On the first ballot, Mr Healey won 45.4% of the votes, Mr Benn 36.6% and has begun" (1st October 1981). Mr Silkin 18.0%, With Mr Silkin dropping out of the second ballot, Mr Healey went on to win by the narrowest of margins, a mere 0.85%. He Left-wingers argue that although they just lost the vote, it was, in the collected 50,43% of the votes and Mr Benn won 49.57%. The largest share words of Mr Benn, "a victory, because from the very beginning right to the of Mr Healey's vote came from the unions - just under half his total - end - and we are nowhere near the end - we have won the argument" while a similar proportion of Mr Benn's came from the constituency parties. (Daily Telegraph, 28th September 1981). Altogether 462 constituency parties voted for him in the second ballot, National Executive Committee against 115 for Mr Healey. A more serious setback for the Lett came in the results of the elections for The position among the trade unions was complicated, however, by the the 29 member National Executive Committee. The committee elected at way in which the largest union, the Transport and General Workers' Union, 391 No 21 390 last year's conference had a Left majority of 19 to 10. As a result of co- and take back sections of public industries which have been hived off by ordinated action among Right-wing trade unions, led by the Amalgamated the Tories ... We will also extend the frontiers of public enterprise by Union of Engineering Workers under its president, Mr Terry Duffy, five Left- encouraging the existing national sed industries to diversify into new wingers were removed: Mr Bernard Dix of NUPE and Mr Charlie Kelly of activities". UCATT (Building Workers) from the trade union section, and Mrs Margaret The conference also carried a motion proposed by the supposedly Beckett and Mrs Renee Short, MP, from the women's section. In addition, moderate General and Municipal Workers' Union, calling for "the control of Mr Eric Varley, MP, replaced Left-winger Mr Norman Atkinson, MP, as party investment, trade and inflation, and an improvement in the quality of life treasurer. Mr Varley secured 3,859,000 votes to Mr Atkinson's 3,252,000. based on socialist policies of state intervention, industrial democracy, the These "moderate" advances lose some significance when it is extension of public ownership and the growth of public services". considered that they were expected to have materialised at the 1980 Another motion to win the overwhelming approval of the conference was conference, but failed to do so when the AUEW delegation decided by one proposed and seconded by members of the Trotskyist Militant Tendency. It vote to support the Left-wing ticket (see Politics Today, No. 19, 1980, p. 329). asserted "that there is no way forward for the working class within the The constituency section remained solidly Left-wing, however, re- framework ot capitalism and pledges the next Labour Government, under electing all seven members: Mr Tony Benn, who came top of the poll, Mr Clause IV Part 4 of the Labour Party Constitution, to bring into public Eric Heffer, Mr Dennis Skinner, Mr Frank Allaun: Mr Neil Kinnock, Miss Jo ownership the commanding heights of the economy". Richardson and Miss Joan Lestor. But the votes for Mr Kinnock and Miss Replying to the debate, Mr Benn said he accepted the latter as "more than Lestor dropped considerably owing to the operation of a Bennite "hit-list" just a vague constitutional aspiration, but a clear intention of our policy, in reprisal for their abstentions in the Deputy Leadership contest along with that we should move away from capitalism to socialism" (Daily Telegraph, about twenty other Tribune Group MPs, known as "Healey's Fifth Column". 28th September 1981). He also said that "we are never ever, ever going back The new committee is evenly divided between Left and Right, with Mr to the old policies of wage restraint as a means of saving capitalism" (ibid.). Foot holding the balance. Such is the measure of the shift in the Labour Conference approved a resolution opposed to incomes policy, proposed by Party's centre of gravity that this life-long Left-winger is now being AUEW —TASS, the white collar section of the engineering union.