This was the third Welsh Executive Committee (WEC) meeting to take place via Zoom; the General Secretary reported that she had met with the WEC officers to agree dates for forthcoming WEC meetings, with one to take place virtually on 26 November and one potentially to take place physically on 16 January, subject to the situation at that point. The Chair welcomed new member Ashley Lister, who had joined the WEC representing the socialist societies.
The first item was the Leader’s report; Mark gave a long and detailed report, focussing on the current situation re Covid-19 and local lockdowns in South East Wales, unemployment and the Welsh Government’s attempts to put pressure on the UK Government to further extend the furlough scheme (potentially in targeted sectors) and the UK Government’s proposed Internal Market Bill, which was a direct attack on devolution and which the Labour Party at a UK level would fight in the House of Lords. Mark took questions on the communications around the Internal Market Bill; Covid testing capacity; job retention schemes; and the Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill, currently going through the Senedd, which is seeking to extend the notice period for no-fault evictions from two months to six.
The WEC then appointed members to its various sub-committees, with all those who had applied being added to the Local Government and Organisation sub-committees and all WEC members added to the Appeals Panel. There were then contested elections to the body’s Party Development Board, to which Darren was one of 3 CLP reps elected (along with Alyson Pugh from South Wales West and Kate Thomas from South Wales East).
The main item meriting detailed discussion was a paper on Senedd selections; the WEC was asked to agree a series of measures associated with conducting selections for the remaining Senedd seats that Labour does not currently hold (the selections for Bridgend and Rhondda having now been completed). The WEC agreed that selections should be conducted via an online hustings meeting, with postal ballots available for those genuinely unable to attend. The WEC also agreed to continue to uphold the principle of All Women Shortlists (AWS), with several members underlining the need not to concede the principle on this issue, therefore one of the remaining seats to be selected would be an AWS.
In her report as General Secretary, Louise Magee highlighted the need to focus on Senedd campaigning and that, while it was hoped that we would be able to physically hold a conference in Llandudno in February, this would be kept under review. Several members commented on the need for the party to develop a robust fundraising strategy. Louise stated that the Welsh Labour Women’s and BAME committees would be able to meet and hold AGMs only once AGMs for branches and CLPs were able to take place. She also agreed to report back to a future WEC on the progress regarding the Welsh Labour Party Democracy Review, which had stalled due to Covid-19. She was also asked about the progress towards development of a manifesto and reported that the Welsh Joint Policy Committee would meet on 26 September to finalise the most recent policy papers and begin preparations for presentation and discussion at Welsh Labour Conference.
The two CLP WEC representatives from Mid and West Wales, Ivan Monckton and Christine Hardacre, asked that an item be added to the agenda for the November WEC meeting to allow the CLPs in the region to detail their experiences of the recent trigger ballot process for the list candidates in that region; the General Secretary agreed to add this to the agenda.
The WEC then received a series of written reports from the Deputy Leader; the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales; the Welsh Local Government Association representative, Cllr Andrew Morgan; and the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner representative, Jeff Cuthbert.
Two final points were made towards the end of the meeting. Firstly, Ivan Monckton, one of the CLP reps for Mid and West Wales, expressed concerns that the majority of the WEC papers had been received late in the evening before the meeting, and one (from the Deputy Leader) only a few hours before the meeting began. The General Secretary stated that they were dealing with some vacancies and staff illness but would endeavour to ensure that the papers were circulated well in advance of the meetings in future. The Deputy Leader stated that she had not had time to compile her report earlier, partly because she does not have paid staff to support her Deputy Leader position.
Secondly, Tonia Antoniazzi MP raised concerns regarding the representativeness of the views expressed by CLP representatives on the WEC. 9 of the 10 CLP representatives (led by Sophie) have written to the General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary to respond to this issue raised. CLP WEC representatives are elected through an OMOV ballot of all eligible voters in their region. Once on the WEC, we, as good practice rather than a written rule, produce reports for members, which are for the most part distributed to members through CLP secretaries (although this is inconsistent in places). We would also attend CLPs or branches where asked to do so. However, CLP reps do not have access to membership lists or any other means of directly communicating with members; we imagine that this is due to GDPR concerns. We would be delighted to have our reports shared more widely and would very much relish the opportunity to speak to members directly to seek their views so that we can better represent their interests on the WEC, in whatever ways this can be facilitated.