Ann Black is a British political activist who serves as a member of the
National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party. She served from 2000 to 2018 and was re-elected in November 2020. She was chair of the NEC from 2009 to 2010, and has also served as chair of the NEC's disputes panel.
Career
In 2013, Black worked as a computer programmer at
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...
.
She is a member of the
Unison trade union.
Political career
Labour in government, 2000–2010
Black was first elected to the
Labour Party's National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties:
* National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa
* Australian Labor Party National Executive
* Nationa ...
(NEC) as a representative for
Constituency Labour Party
__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 ...
groups (CLPs) in 2000.
At the time, she was campaigning for pensions to be linked to earnings instead of prices.
In September 2002, Black wrote a paper for the committee expressing concern about the
invading Iraq. In 2003, she wrote a statement encouraging the government to hold a referendum on introducing the
Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
. Later that year, she voted in favour of readmitting the mayor of London
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...
to the Labour Party after he had been expelled for running for election against a Labour candidate in the
2000 London mayoral election, but against using the selection method a Labour incumbent official would go through. In 2004, she wrote to the Labour leader and prime minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
opposing his invitation of
Ayad Allawi
Ayad Allawi ( ar, إيَاد عَلَّاوِي ; born 31 May 1944) is an Iraqi politician. He served as the vice president of Iraq from 2014 to 2015 and 2016 to 2018. Previously he was interim prime minister of Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and the p ...
, the prime minister of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, saying that "most people want to put Iraq behind them and unite around Labour's positive domestic agenda". She spoke out against the Labour government's plans to introduce ID cards in 2005. She was re-elected a CLP representative in 2006. In 2009, she served as vice-chair of the NEC. In the same year, she was one of three members of a panel of NEC members that investigated allegations against Labour MPs in the
United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expenses claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the previous year ...
. In 2010, she was chair of the NEC.
Labour in opposition, 2010–present
In the
2010 Labour Party leadership election, Black urged Labour Members of Parliament to nominate candidates they might not go on to vote for in order to provide a more diverse range of candidates, which was seen as support for nominating
Diane Abbott.
When determining the rules for the
2015 Labour Party leadership election, Black opposed checking new members against the party's canvassing records. In the election, she was reported as having voted for
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
.
Later that year, she worked on a report about representation of women in the Labour Party with the shadow minister for women and equalities
Kate Green
Katherine Anne Green OBE (born 2 May 1960) is a British politician, serving as Greater Manchester's Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime from January 2023. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston between 2010 and 2022. A me ...
.
In July 2016,
Owen Smith
Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...
challenged Corbyn for the leadership of the party in the
2016 Labour Party leadership election. Black supported Corbyn being automatically included on ballots, and an increase in the price to become a registered supporter of the party.
She also proposed that members who joined before 24 June should be able to vote, but the proposal failed due to a tied vote. She then supported making 12 January the cut-off.
In the election, she was reported as having voted for Corbyn.
Ahead of the 2016 election for CLP representatives on the NEC, the
Labour Representation Committee said that it wouldn't support Black due to her votes determining the electorate for the 2016 leadership election, and for supporting the suspension of Brighton and Hove Labour Party.
It went on to support her as part of the
Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance (CLGA) group of candidates. In October 2016, Black was re-elected to the NEC with more votes than any other candidate.
In January 2018, Black was replaced as chair of the committee's disputes panel with
Christine Shawcroft
Christine Linda Shawcroft (born April 1955) is a British Labour Party activist and former politician.
Shawcroft is a director of Momentum and was elected as the chair of the Labour Party's Disputes Sub-Committee in January 2018. In March 2018, s ...
, who
Stephen Bush
Stephen Kupakwesu Bush (born 21 March 1990) is a British journalist. He is columnist and associate editor at the ''Financial Times'' and has also written for ''The Guardian'', ''The Telegraph,'' '' i'' and ''New Statesman''.
Early life and educ ...
described in the
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
as "regarded as more of a reliable factional operator". Shawcroft resigned from the role in March of the same year. In February, Momentum announced a slate of candidates for the year's elections to the NEC that didn't include Black, reportedly because of how Black had voted to determine the electorate for the 2016 leadership election.
She was expected to win the election to be chair of the
National Policy Forum
The National Policy Forum (NPF) of the British Labour Party is part of the policy-making system of the Party, set up by Leader Tony Blair as part of the Partnership in Power process. A Provisional National Policy Forum had been established by Bl ...
(NPF) later that month. The election was postponed by allies of Corbyn minutes before it was due to go ahead. Black was elected as chair of the NPF in April 2018. Black stood in the 2018 election for CLP representatives on the NEC without the support of the CLGA. During the election, Momentum withdrew its support for
Peter Willsman
Peter Rupert William Willsman (born February 1944) is a British political activist who was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee and the secretary of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy.
He was suspended from the Lab ...
, which led to speculation that Black might win a seat.
She came in thirteenth place, with nine candidates elected.
In September 2019, after the
2019 United Kingdom general election
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...
was announced, Black criticised the NEC for prioritising formal re-selection processes for Labour MPs over organising selections for constituencies which didn't have a candidate.
Black has been described as "independently minded" and "left-wing", and a swing vote on the NEC.
In November 2020 she was re-elected to the NEC.
Honours
Black was made an
Officer of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the
2013 Birthday Honours
The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...
for "parliamentary and political service".
[United Kingdom:]
References
External links
Ann Black on the Record personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Ann
Labour Party (UK) officials
People associated with Oxford Brookes University
Living people
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Chairs of the Labour Party (UK)
1950 births