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The Labour Party Conference, or annual national conference of the Labour Party, is formally the supreme decision-making body of the Party. Conference decisions In the United Kingdom, each major political party holds an annual party conference during the party conference season. In the Labour Party, Conference is the supreme body, although the party leadership has made clear, particularly in recent years, that it will ignore the conference's decisions where it does not agree; constitutionally, a British government must be free to make decisions on behalf of the whole population and cannot be bound by any private body. Delegates Delegates to the conference are elected by Constituency Labour Parties, affiliated trade unions and socialist societies. Currently, affiliates hold 50% of the votes at the conference - down from 80% in the era before Tony Blair, but still considerable. Some 40% of the votes are wielded by the four largest trade unions (Amicus, TGWU, GMB, UNISON). Resolutions Resolutions for debate are put forward by CLPs and unions before the conference begins. In recent years, party members have had less say in what is debated at the annual conference, as the party leadership has tried to move policy-making increasingly into the new National Policy Forums, which meet in private. Role of the NEC The National Executive Committee oversees the conference and if it does not agree with a resolution, the committee may put pressure on the backers to withdraw or remit it. Remittance means that the resolution's backers agree to "send back" the resolution to the National Executive so that it can consider the matter in more detail; this is viewed by some as a mere delaying tactic. The resolutions voted upon are normally composites, meaning that they have been compiled by combining several resolutions put forward by different bodies into a single wording agreed beforehand. Comparisons Many critics argue that the Labour Party Conference has become less democratic in recent years and more like a party rally; some would compare it disparagingly with the American party conventions, which are perceived in the UK in those terms. Others would say that, because divisions in a party are unpopular electorally, it has been to the party's advantage to move disputes behind closed doors; they would also argue that the Labour Conference is more democratic than that of the rival Conservative Party, which political scientists have traditionally perceived as a more top-down or hierarchical party than Labour. 1998 Blackpool BBC News Coverage 1999 Bournemouth BBC News Coverage 2000 Brighton BBC News Coverage 2001 Brighton BBC News Coverage 2002 Blackpool BBC News Coverage 2003 Bournemouth BBC News Coverage 2004 Brighton The 2004 party conference was held in Brighton during the final week of September. Conference rejected a call for withdrawal from Iraq, but accepted a resolution calling for renationalization of the railways; the leadership declared that it would ignore this. Conference closed with the singing of The Red Flag and Jerusalem. BBC News Coverage 2005 Brighton Over 600 people were held under the recent terrorism acts, including Walter Wolfgang an 82 year old refugee from Nazi Germany who was arrested for heckling during the speech of the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw- none was subsequently charged. BBC News Coverage 2006 Manchester In 2006 the conference will be held in Manchester at the G-Mex and Manchester International Conference Centre from the 24th to the 28th of September. It is the first time in "living memory" that the main Labour conference is not being held at a seaside town. This follows Labour's Spring 2004 local government conference which was held at the G-Mex for the first time. This conference will be Blair's last as leader before he bows out by May 2007. The start of the conference was marked with major protests against the Iraq war The first day of debating (24th september 2006) hosted a variety of speeches praising Prime Minister Tony Blair, mentioning the "sterling work" he has endeavoured to put in place for his nine and a half years in office. Tony Blair also praised the work of Chancellor of the exchequor Gordon Brown, who still remains the top candidate for Leading the party into the next session. However speculation continues about the true public opinion of Brown and recent polls indicate that labour voters would be more comfortable with David Cameron as leader (Leader of the Conservative party) as the next prime minister. Brown's leadership qualities are under scrutiny from the public and many laobour party officials. Other possible candidates for the top job include several back benchers including, notably Laurence Hurrell.MP (Chipping Barnet MP) and Home Secretary John Reid. Many feel that despite his denial of wanting the top job he may well stand for leader to ensure that there is a proper leadership contest some time (most likely May) of 2007. Talks at the Labour Party conference will continue untill the 1st of October 2006 Links Labour Party official website | |||||||
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