The Labour Representation Committee (LRC) is a British
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
pressure group
Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
within the
Labour Party and wider labour movement. It is often seen as representing the most left-wing members of the
Labour Party.
Overview
The LRC was formed at a founding conference on Saturday 3 July 2004, taking its name from the original
Labour Representation Committee, formed in February 1900.
The LRC encourages
Constituency Labour Parties
__NOTOC__
A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency.
In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...
(CLPs) and Branch Labour Parties (BLPs) to affiliate, along with local, regional and national unions, and individual party members and supporters. It has around 150 affiliates and 1000 individual members. In parliament, the group is represented by the
Socialist Campaign Group
The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...
. The LRC also has a youth group, the Socialist Youth Network.
The Chairman is
John McDonnell
John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. ...
, who the LRC supported as a candidate for leader of the Labour Party. Its Organiser is Lizzie Woods. Joint-National Secretaries are Andrew Fisher and Peter Firmin. Its Vice-Chairs are Jenny Lennox and Susan Press. The Treasurer is Graham Bash, Editor of ''
Labour Briefing''. They are the current officers of the organisation.
According to LRC affiliate
Socialist Appeal, in November 2014: "The Labour Representation Committee has lost a third of its members and is now down to 600 – in a party of 190,000. It is teetering on the verge of collapse." Despite this claim, LRC members were involved in launching the activist
Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory in early 2015.
LRC Youth
LRC Youth is a section of the LRC for those aged 27 and under. It was founded as the Socialist Youth Network in March 2007 and relaunched in 2012 under its current name.
National Committee
The National Committee is elected annually by delegates to the LRC's annual general meeting. Its members are elected for 12 months to conduct general business between annual general meetings. It is responsible for electing, and holding to account, an Executive Committee, which is responsible for any general business between meetings of the National Committee. The National Committee is also responsible for the preparation of publications, and for appointing delegates to represent the LRC.
The current National Committee is elected at the LRC's annual general meeting in November, and its membership is as follows:
Affiliated MPs
The Representation Committee has a number of officially affiliated
MPs, those being:
*
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the pol ...
MP
*
John McDonnell
John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. ...
MP
Affiliated unions
The LRC maintains support from a number of trade unions, the most prominent of these being:
*
ASLEF
The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing train drivers. It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation and the European Transport Workers' Federation. At the end of ...
*
BFAWU
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1847 in Manchester, it represents workers in the food industry.
History
The union dates its origin to 1847. The Manchester Friendly Association ...
*
Communication Workers Union
*
Fire Brigades Union
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime firefighters (including officers up to chief fire officer / firemaster), retained firefighters and emergency control room staff.
History
The first recorded in ...
*
NUM
Num may refer to:
* Short for number
* Num (god), the creator and high god of the Nenets people of Siberia
* Short for the Book of Numbers of the Hebrew Bible
* Khnum, a god of Egyptian mythology
* Mios Num, an island of western New Guinea
* Num, ...
*
RMT
Affiliated Constituency Labour Parties
*
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manc ...
CLP
*
Brentford and Isleworth
Brentford and Isleworth () is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It forms the eastern part of the London Borough of Hounslow. Since 2015, it has been represented by Ruth Cadbury of the Labour Party.
Bound ...
CLP
*
Chingford and Woodford Green CLP
*
Delyn CLP
*
Ilford South
Ilford South is a constituency created in 1945 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Sam Tarry of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
The seat covers Ilford town centre and the surrounding suburbs, and the ...
CLP
*
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
CLP
*
Islington North
Islington North () is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Jeremy Corbyn. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Co ...
CLP
*
Leeds Central CLP
*
Leyton and Wanstead
Leyton and Wanstead is a constituency created in 1997 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by John Cryer of the Labour Party.
Boundaries
Uniting for general elections areas from the boroughs of Redbridge ...
CLP
*
St Helens South CLP
Affiliated Branch Labour Parties
*Bloomsbury and Kings Cross BLP
*Brislington East BLP
*Henleaze BLP
*Hastings and Rye East BLP
*Kensal Green BLP
*Newport and West Wight BLP
*Sutton BLP
Other affiliated organisations
*
Campaign for Socialism
Campaign for Socialism (CfS) is an autonomous pressure group of Scottish Labour Party members and supporters who campaign for left-wing policies and candidates within the party. In 2016, CfS agreed to a joint membership scheme with Momentum, a UK ...
(Scotland)
*
Momentum (organisation)
*
Keep Our NHS Public
Keep Our NHS Public is a campaigning organisation, with local groups across England, committed to reversing what it describes as the ongoing privatisation of the NHS and its services.
History
The group was founded in 2005 by the NHS Consul ...
* Reclaiming Education
*
People's Assembly Against Austerity
* Free Speech on Israel
*
Jewish Voice for Labour
*
Labour Against the Witchhunt
* Jewish Socialist Group
* Hands off the People of Iran
See also
*
Compass (think tank)
Compass is a British centre-left pressure group, aligned with the Labour Party which describes itself as: "'An umbrella grouping of the progressive left whose sum is greater than its parts". Like the formally Labour-affiliated think tank the Fab ...
*
Socialist Campaign Group
The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...
*
Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory
References
External links
*
Jeremy Corbyn leadership campaign
{{Authority control
2004 establishments in the United Kingdom
Labour Party (UK) factions
Organisations associated with the Labour Party (UK)
Democratic socialism
History of the Labour Party (UK)