It can be difficult to keep up with all the Labour Party acronyms and phrases. Here is a guide of all the key terms that will help you navigate your way through the Labour Party.

Constituency Labour Party (CLP)

This is the area represented by your local MP made up of several wards.

 Delegate

A delegate is someone chosen by members (at their branch AGM, for example) to represent them at at the GC or at conferences or the LCF.

Affiliated Supporter

A supporter who signs up through an affiliated organisation, namely a trade union.

Registered Supporter

A supporter who paid just to vote in a leadership contest. This expires a year after the date you joined unless you re-join as an Affiliated Supporter or full Member.

Young Member

Young Labour members are those aged between 14-26 years old. You are under 27, you are automatically a member of Young Labour.

Branch Labour Party (BLP)
Where constituencies are broken down into smaller branches, often according to the different wards that make-up the constituency. These branches send delegates to the General Committee (GC) to act on behalf of the branches.  Most branches meet on the second Tuesday of the month.

 Annual General Meeting (AGM)

This is the meeting held by each branch once a year to elect its officers. This must take place before the CLP AGM where the Executive Committee is elected.

General Meeting (GM)

The GM is the main decision-making body of the CLP, as well as being a forum for political debate. It is made up of delegates from all branches and meets on the 4^th Tuesday of the month (there are no meetings in August and December).

Executive Committee (EC)

This is made up of elected officers such as the Chair, Treasurer and Secretary, a delegate from each branch (usually the branch secretary) and representatives of the TU and socialist society affiliates. They discuss arrangements for important meetings and the constituency’s financial affairs. It manages the CLP and helps run the local party in its day-to-day activities. It is elected once a year at our AGM.  It usually meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

Functional Officers

Functional Officers, also elected by GM delegates at the AGM, support the work of the EC. Functional Officer include: Education Liaison, Fundraising Officer,  etc.

Labour Group

This refers to the group of Labour councillors on Camden Council.

Cabinet

Labour Group has a cabinet system. The Leader of the Council is elected by all Labour members of the Labour Group. Nine other Labour Group members are appointed by the leader to the cabinet. Further Labour group members are elected or appointed by their peers to serve on Scrutiny Committees which oversee a particular area of local Government, e.g. housing, education etc.

Conference Arrangements Committee

People are elected to the national CAC by members to determine the shape of the agenda for Annual Conference, rules on the validity of contemporary and emergency motions, and acts as the steering committee for conference.

Labour Campaign Forum

They are responsible for finding candidates to stand in elections, which members then vote for in selections. This will be replaced by a Local Government Committees (LGC).

National Executive Committee

The NEC is the governing body of the Labour Party. It is made up of elected representatives from every section of the Party. It helps set the objectives of the Labour Party and manages the overall direction of the party and the policy-making process.

Parliamentary Labour Party

Made-up of our Members of Parliament.

Canvassing

Canvassing refers to speaking to voters on the doorstep (door knocking) or over the phone (phone-banking), especially during election time to find out how they are voting.

Get Out The Vote

Throughout a campaign we identify Labour voters through canvassing, we then remind them to vote on polling day.

 Get Out The Postal Vote

This is similar to GOTV. You remind those people that have applied for a postal vote to complete their postal ballot.

Short Campaign

This a period of time before election day where all campaign spending must be recorded.