National Policy Forum - Your Southeast CLP representatives

SIMON BURGESS Hove CLP
Membership Number A638166

I hope you will vote for me in the postal vote for the National Policy Forum this summer. Many of you will know me from local and regional policy forums as I have been fortunate enough to represent you for sometime now. We have a great team of SE NPF reps who punch well above our weight nationally because we are such a strong team. I believe passionately that your representatives should be there to represent your views, something I have done with a high degree of dedication for many years - nationally I consistently submit one of the highest numbers of policy proposals and amendments to policy documents, that's because it is important that your views are heard and debated.

There are of course frustrations with the policy process and I am passionate in my attempts to challenge them. As the CLP Vice-Chair at the last round of negotiations at Warwick I spent two years preparing the ground and then ensured that CLPs and trade unions were not turned against each other as happened four years previously. I was widely praised by CLP reps and a number of union General Secretaries for that and I am pleased to have played my small part in keeping our party together during difficult times.

We must have a united Labour movement that celebrates internal discussion and renews itself as we move into a world of appalling Tory & Lib Dem cuts. Labour has done much that we should feel proud of but there is so much more we should do, an involved and vibrant membership is vital for that.

If you re-elect me I promise that I will continue to champion the policies that matter to you. I will work to involve you more, helping to build our membership and movement with a more outward looking policy process. I will always try my hardest to be available for your policy discussions and forums, I have attended many all over the region.

DAN CHAPMAN Brighton Kemptown CLP
Membership Number L0062391

Please support me for the youth section of the National Policy Forum.

I joined the Labour Party when I was 16. Over these past seven years I have been an active campaigning member both at constituency and national level. I joined the Labour Party because I believe in its ideology and policies. I believe in investing in our public services, progressive equalities policies and fighting for the many and not the few. I wish to play a part in the policy making process to make sure that the party continues to focus on these values while in opposition, and continues to develop them further.

In my home constituency of Brighton Kemptown I am the Youth Officer. I was the full time Campaign Organiser in the recent parliamentary elections and I am already working alongside our candidates for next year’s local government elections. I was the constituency representative at the Labour Youth conference last year and attended the National Party Conference. I have also worked for our other constituencies across the city of Brighton and Hove.

I have had particular responsibility for involving and engaging young people locally in the Labour party. I have successfully organised Young Labour, LGBT Labour and Labour student events, which have got more young people active and campaigning for the party. I have effectively used Facebook, Twitter and other internet web sites to gain support for campaigns, candidates and events.

Throughout the general election I worked full time on the Simon Burgess campaign, as the Campaign Organiser. I was at the forefront of the campaign: creating leaflets and letters, organising volunteers, getting more people involved, promoting Simon through a variety of different media, liaising with Labour Party HQ and also being on the frontline door-knocking and leafleting. I am a keen and highly motivated campaigner and I wish to take this forward and develop my knowledge and experiences further.

If I am elected I will tell shadow ministers about the real life experiences of young people, and I will push forward to get appealing and relevant policies on the agenda that are aimed at young people. I will push for policies that focus on lowering the cost and increasing the availability of housing, maintaining funding in further and higher education and to provide decent jobs for young people. As a member of LGBT Labour, I will fight for equality. I will make sure that Labour’s policies continue to be the most progressive and carry on fighting for fairness. I will also continue to get more young people involve in the Labour party and to expand our youth membership.

I hope my experiences and my passion for the Labour movement will persuade you to vote for me for the National Policy Forum.

DEB GARDINER Isle of Wight CLP
Membership Number A506806

I hope you will vote for me as one of the South East CLP representatives on the National Policy Forum.

I have been an active member of the National Policy Forum, and have always ensured that the views of South East CLPs are represented robustly and fairly. During the lengthy discussions at Warwick, I took a lead role in ensuring that that CLPs and unions were as united as possible in their approach. The views of South East Party members and CLPs were taken forward and we did achieve significant success in getting key issues, such as a 100% elected House of Lords, new council house building, votes at 16 and the South Downs National Park into the Policy Document. However there is no doubt that, as we face a period in opposition, the way that Policy is developed and members’ involvement in that needs to be changed, with members at the heart of the process so that we don’t have policies just coming from nowhere. An active and connected Party is essential and can only be achieved by a united Party and a stronger role for Party members.

The Importance of the South East

We’ve always known that for Labour to win nationally, it had to win in the South East.. This region has such a range – from areas of economic affluence to areas of real deprivation, we have city, seaside, urban and rural areas. Politically, the region is used to fighting off the Tories, Greens, UKIP and, my particular favourite target Lib Dems. So many of us have spent years flagging up the danger of ignoring them or treating them as a joke – and we know that we have to campaign actively agains them and expose them for what they are. Finding a way to re-connect with the voters we lost is crucial and Party members in the South East, rooted in their communities, will have a crucial role to play as we develop policies which will help us win again. In the South East, we are used to fighting for every single vote and campaigning and committed National Policy Forum members are crucial to getting that message across.

Labour Party experience

**A Party member since the age of 18 and active in Lancaster, Oxford East and the Isle of Wight. I’ve held a wide variety of CLP and Branch posts. I was CLP Secretary for five years and am currently CLP Chair.

**A Councillor in the IOW Unitary Authority from 1998 until 2009 and Labour Group Leader from 2001-09.

**Parliamentary Candidate (Isle of Wight) in 1997 and 2001 – we more than doubled the Labour vote in 1997 and increased it in 2001 against the national trend.

**South East CLP Representative on the National Policy Forum and was a member of the Prosperity and Work Commission until I was elected by other CLP reps to the Joint Policy Committee.

**An active member of South East Labour Party Regional Board

**A member of UNITE

**A Co-op Party member


If re-elected to that National Policy Forum, I will continue to consult members, report back to them, and visit CLPs as well local and regional Policy Forum events. I hope your CLP will consider voting for me.

KAREN LANDLES Epsom & Ewell CLP
Membership Number B009643

I’m asking for your vote for election as a South-East CLP Representative to the National Policy Forum. I currently sit as one of the SE team on the NPF and I hope to be re-elected in the postal vote this summer.

A fairer, more just and more equal society is at the heart of Labour Party values; this is the great cause we join the Party for, the cause for which we as members campaign. While in government Labour policies changed our society for the better tackling poverty for the very poorest, turning around the NHS, tackling the injustices faced by prejudice and, of course, during the economic crisis fighting hard to keep jobs. There is much we can be proud of. But we all know that even so people are struggling to make ends meet, that children’s life chances remain dependent on the wealth of their parents, that housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable. We can expect too that life for many will become harder still under a government run by people who have neither understanding nor concern for ordinary people. This is exactly why we need to prepare to get back in government.

For me policy making must be at the heart of the fight-back. What is politics after all but the way we choose to organise the society we live in? We have all heard about the record numbers of people rushing to join the Party, wonderful news, but we know that loathing the alternative party/ parties, however many reasons we will undoubtedly be given, is not enough for a sustainable commitment that lasts over the years. What feeds and sustains us through the years of campaigning, the good times and the bad, is the belief in the policies and values of the party we are campaigning for, it is about having a say in what those policies are; it is, most crucially, having a vision in front of us that compels us to move forward. We all joined Labour because we believe in the overall values and because we believe we can make a difference individually and collectively. Labour people like to be heard, no surprise there, and so do the people who should and could be joining us. So policy forums motivate us and inspire us as existing members, and they enable us to recruit and keep new members. So the National Policy Forum is the key to motivating and re-invigorating our exhausted members and to recruit new members who will campaign alongside us in the next election.

The other aspect of the NPF that excites me is the idea of a forum as part of public meetings debating openly with the local population. On the doorsteps of the South East voters told us we were not listening to them, that we had lost their trust. The more people we engage in our debates the better able we will be to construct policies that offer genuine solutions to people’s needs, reflecting our values more effectively.

As your representative, I will work closely with the local parties to ensure that our members have the opportunity to be heard at regional and national level.
As one of your representatives I have visited CLP and branch meetings, large and small, across the South East helping organise forum meetings or speaking at meetings to enable me to represent your views at a national level. I have also gone back to many of you to update you on the issues you have raised and I promise you that if I am re-elected I will continue to work with you, help bring along a variety of speakers to add interest and knowledge to the debates, and I will continue helping you arrange policy meetings in your area that can engage your local members and your local community. I will continue to work closely with the other CLP representatives to make sure that our voice is heard and that we keep you informed about the work of the NPF.

MARTIN PHILLIPS Guildford CLP
Membership Number B006399

Please vote for me as one of the South-East Representatives to the National Policy Forum. I am one of the current SE team on the NPF and I hope to be re-elected in the postal vote this summer.

Time for a new direction

We can be immensely proud of what Labour achieved in 13 years of government, but I am sure that many also share my disappointment that we could have done so much more. We introduced the Minimum Wage, but not a Living Wage. We started building council houses again, but it took over 10 years to start and after intense lobbying by the NPF and unions. A 50% tax rate was only introduced late on, House of Lords reform stalled and action on banks called by CLP reps in 2007 happened too late.

Now we are in opposition, we need to rebuild. Many voters switched to other parties because they felt we had lost touch with their concerns. The next NPF cycle is the most important in its history, because we have just lost a general election and our policies were rejected in favour of Tory policies (even if with little enthusiasm). We need to build on the things that have worked over the last 13 years, but also find new policies that will address the feelings of insecurity and uncertainty that many people now have, and policies that make people feel they have more control over their lives – responsive local services, a government that listens and businesses that are not left to make enormous profits then demand bailouts when things go wrong.

There are already a lot of good ideas that came from CLPs over the past 5 years and that CLP reps have pushed for. As a proud Co-op Party member, I believe co-ops have a huge part to play. It is time to boost mutual banks. Local services should also be run on mutual lines, so that local people have more say in the services they use. Co-op housing schemes would give residents more say. We need to do more to help people on middle incomes, who have seen their living standards drop, by providing free school meals for children, more affordable housing and childcare. We need to stop the massive profiteering of the energy companies who increase prices faster than their costs and rarely cut prices when costs drop. I will continue to push for policies like these as I have done over the past 5 years – policies that CLPs want and the public need.

Representing members, not my own views

I have worked hard to represent the SE CLPs over the past 5 years. Together with my 4 other CLP colleagues, I have reported back through regular newsletters and our website. I’ve visited many CLPs in all parts of the region and I have always represented the views of CLPs rather than used the NPF as a personal platform. The voice of traditional Labour areas such as the big cities and industrial areas are well represented, so like all the SE reps, I have put the case for the needs of non-Labour areas too.

I have also been lucky to serve on the Health Policy Commission and been able to shape health policy, including measures that are already in place such free, full health checks on the NHS for the over 50s, an idea that came from SE CLPs. I read every submission to the Commission, attended all the meetings and reported back regularly to all SE parties. I have also helped a number of CLPs on local health issues and campaigns.

Policy is nothing if it does not reach the public through campaigns and I have also run the Southern Comfort weekly emails to tell CLPs and activists about the campaign activities across the region. Like others, I complained for years that Labour election campaigns take the Lib Dems seriously and have proper messages against them rather than dismiss them. We now know the LDs are not just a serious opponent, but a party happy to work with Tories to cut services. We have a chance in our region to fight back and regain all those votes and councillors lost to the Lib Dems, as well as campaigning against Tory cuts. I want NPF members to help lead those campaigns by providing information and ideas as well as coming to help in local campaigns across the region.

More to do

I want to be re-elected to the NPF again, to help develop the new policies we need to win the next election. As CLP members we are not stuck in the Westminster bubble, and we know the issues that worry our family, friends and work colleagues. Now we have to turn that knowledge into a new policy agenda. By the end of our period in office, ministers often saw new ideas through the prism of managers and the problems with implementation, rather than seeing the bigger picture of the changes needed. We need to use our time in opposition to regain the hunger to see a problem and do something about it.

I have seen many good things come through the NPF, but I have also seen the problems with the process. It is not acceptable that submissions are not answered (as a Health Commission member I often sent my own personal replies). The 6 policy commissions should all issue regular newsletters to the whole movement on the work being done. The Party does not have a lot of staff to support policy development, but we should be using the 200+ NPF members to do more.

I hope you will vote for me for the NPF.