Campaign for Labour Party Democracy
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| name = Campaign for Labour Party Democracy
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| abbreviation = CLPD
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| formation = {{Start date and age|1973|df=y}}
| founder = Vladimir Derer
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| location = United Kingdom
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| leader_title = Co-chairs
| leader_name = {{hlist | Lizzy Ali | Gemma Bolton}}
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| affiliations = Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance
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The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD) is a group of Labour Party activists campaigning for changes to the constitution and rules of the Labour Party to ensure that Labour MPs and Labour governments enact policies agreeable to the party membership.
History
CLPD was founded by Labour Party activists in 1973, with support from about ten Labour MPs, and its first President was Frank Allaun.{{sfn|Adams|1992|p=393}}{{cite web |url=http://home.freeuk.net/clpd/history.htm |title=c l p d - a potted history |website=Campaign for Labour Party Democracy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029023220/http://home.freeuk.net/clpd/history.htm |archive-date=29 October 2015}} A leading co-founder was Vladimir Derer, and his house in Golders Green became CLPD's headquarters for about twenty-five years.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/12/vladimir-derer |title=Vladimir Derer obituary |author=Chris Mullin |newspaper=The Guardian |date=12 June 2014 |access-date=2 August 2015}}{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/vladimir-derer-campaign-for-labour-party-democracy-cofounder-who-helped-modernise-the-party-and-make-it-more-electable-9630204.html |title=Vladimir Derer: Campaign for Labour Party Democracy co-founder who helped modernise the party and make it more electable |author=Peta Steel |newspaper=The Independent |date=26 July 2014 |access-date=2 August 2015}} A key reason for its formation was that the 1960s Labour governments ignored Labour Party Conference decisions on key domestic and international issues.{{cite web |url=https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/collections/campaign-for-labour-party-democracy |title=Campaign for Labour Party Democracy |website=Bishopsgate Institute |year=2022 |access-date=27 May 2025}}
Amongst the changes desired were mandatory reselection of MPs, for the party leader to be elected on a franchise wider than MPs and for the party manifesto to be drafted by the National Executive Committee rather than the parliamentary leadership.{{sfn|Adams|1992|p=394}} Tony Benn was the foremost advocate of CLPD demands.{{sfn|Adams|1992|p=393}} In the late 1970s, CLPD had about 450 members and nearly 300 affiliated organisations.{{cite web |url=http://www.hull.ac.uk/arc/collection/pressuregrouparchives/clpd.html |title=Pressure Group Archives Subject Guide - Campaign for Labour Party Democracy |publisher=University of Hull |access-date=2 August 2015}}
In the 1980s, the CLPD became the first Labour organisation to call for more representation of women within the party, which eventually led to all-women shortlists to select candidates being adopted in the Labour Party.
In 1983, the activities of the CLPD were the subject of a BBC hour-long docudrama, 'The Campaign'.{{cite web |url=https://www.leftfutures.org/2013/09/the-bbc-docu-drama-on-clpd-and-the-fights-for-an-accountable-leader-and-mandatory-reselection/ |title=The BBC docu-drama on CLPD and the fights for an accountable leader and mandatory reselection |website=Left Futures |date=28 September 2013 |access-date=27 May 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHIC-t3MBME |title=The Campaign |via=Left Futures |website=YouTube |access-date=27 May 2025}}
At the 2014 Labour Party Conference a CLPD motion achieved one member, one vote elections for the Constituency Labour Party section of the Conference Arrangements Committee, after having earlier achieving this for the National Policy Forum.
Recent developments
In 2015, CLPD member Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Leader of the Labour Party, and took forward the CLPD agenda of increasing democracy in the Labour Party by putting forward reforms to increase the ability of the Party Conference to determine Labour Party policy.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-to-consult-on-plans-to-give-supporters-greater-powers-a6770846.html|title=Jeremy Corbyn makes first move to rein in rebellious Labour MPs|date=13 December 2015|access-date=13 December 2015|newspaper=The Independent|author=Tom McTague}} Corbyn did not advocate mandatory reselection for Labour MPs during his term as Labour leader – a demand that he, along with Tony Benn and other members of the CLPD, had made in the 1980s – but because of the Conservative government's constituency boundary redrawing, all MPs intending to stand again were due to face reselection by October 2018 anyway.
See also
References
=Footnotes=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
- {{cite book
|last=Adams
|first=Jad
|author-link=Jad Adams
|year=1992
|title=Tony Benn
|location=London
|publisher=Macmillan
}}
{{refend}}