In 2018 Labour International CLP submitted a Labour Party rule change to democratise the
selection of Labour Candidates for the UK Parliament. Delegates discussed it at the Labour
Party Annual Conference in Liverpool that year . It was a lively debate with overwhelming support from
CLPs. It did not succeed due in large part to the votes of the trade unions.
If it had passed, the rule-change motion would have meant Labour Party members in Constituency Labour Parties getting to select their Labour Party parliamentary candidates by regular open democratic selection, regardless of whether they are sitting MPs or not. The selections would be by One Member One Vote.
More democracy and participation in the Labour Party are vital to forming a radical Labour Government. Nowhere is this needed more than for MP selection. This shouldn’t be a clumsy, complicated and conflict ridden process. Rather it should simply be a normal regular part of the Party’s democratic processes.
A combination of Covid and the party’s rules mean Open Selection cannot be reintroduced formally yet. But it is important the idea is kept alive and worked on until it can.
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