Compass is a British

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

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 A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

it is a membership-based organisation and thus seeks to be a pressure group and a force for political organisation and mobilisation. Compass was launched in 2003 with the publication of a founding statement called ''A Vision for the Democratic Left''. Supported by a number of academics and Labour politicians unhappy with the political direction of 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 ...

this was the first attempt by Compass to help guide the Labour government. Since then it has published pamphlets and a series of booklets as part of its Programme for Renewal charting an alternative path for left governments and for centre-left activists in the UK.

Activities

Since its inception, Compass has risen in influence and media prominence. The Chair,

Neal Lawson Neal Lawson (born 1963) is a British political commentator and organiser. Lawson was born in and brought up in the 1960s and '70s in Bexleyheath, South East London. He became interested in politics through his father, who was a printer in Fleet S ...

, has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper and when he called for

to resign in May 2006, it was widely reported elsewhere. Compass organises an annual conference. The event on 17 June 2006, included many figures identified with Labour and the trade union movement such as

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Ex ...

, Derek Simpson,

Hilary Benn Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 26 November 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds Central since a by-election in 1999. He served in the Cabinet from 2003 to 2010, under both Tony Bla ...

Fiona Millar Fiona Millar (born 2 January 1958) is a British journalist and campaigner on education and parenting issues. She is a former adviser to Cherie Blair. She contributes to ''The Guardian'' and the Local Schools Network website. Early life Millar a ...

, John Harris,

Hazel Blears Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a former British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles, previously Salford, from 1997 to 2015. One of 101 female Labour MPs elected at the 1997 g ...

, Kevin Maguire, and

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

. There were calls for, amongst other things, the abolition of the monarchy and the destruction of nuclear weapons put forward by the membership. In 2006 it merged with the

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

think tank. The 2007

Robin Cook Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 whe ...

Memorial Conference "Shaping Our Global World", included speakers such as

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 ...

Dave Prentis David Prentis, Baron Prentis of Leeds (born 29 May 1948) is a British trade unionist and former General Secretary of UNISON, the United Kingdom's largest trade union. He was originally elected in 2000. He was re-elected in March 2005, with 77% ...

Frances O'Grady Frances Lorraine Maria O'Grady, Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (born 9 November 1959) became the General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 2013, the first woman to hold the position. After O'Grady presented her resignat ...

Jon Cruddas Jonathan Cruddas (born 7 April 1962) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dagenham and Rainham since 2010, and formerly for Dagenham between 2001 and 2010. A graduate of the University of Warw ...

and

Helena Kennedy Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. Early ...

as well as panels and seminars organised by groups such as

Unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...

, War on Want,

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

, the

and the Citizen Organising Foundation. In 2010, Compass established the High Pay Commission on top pay and inequality, which in turn became the High Pay Centre think tank in 2011. The Compass website is a source of information about Labour politics with regularly posted opinion pieces written by a wide range of authors with an invitation for responses from readers. Since a decision in 2011 to open membership to people from other political parties, Compass has lost influence within the Labour Party.

Programme for Renewal

The Programme for Renewal is the name of the Compass policy review. This has involved commissioned 'thinkpieces' for publication on the organisation's website, seminars, working groups and online discussions involving over a hundred academics, policy thinkers and practitioners. The outcome of this process was three short books. ''The Good Society'' outlined the Compass conception of a progressive society, '' A New Political Economy'' explored progressive and alternative economic policies and ''Democracy and the Public Realm'' looked at the renewal of democratic processes and structures. The text of these books was made available online in order to be subjected to discussion and debate.

Governing structure

Compass is managed by a committee of persons elected by the membership bi-annually. The Management Committee 'provide strategic direction for Compass and make decisions on behalf of the membership'. In an attempt to promote equality, the Committee has a gender quota. The Committee meets between four and five times a year. Previous members have included MPs

Jon Trickett Jon Hedley Trickett (born 2 July 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire since a 1996 by-election. He was Shadow Lord President of the Council from 2016 to 2020 and s ...

and

Chuka Umunna Chuka Harrison Umunna (; born 17 October 1978) is a British retired politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham from 2010 until 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, he was part of the Shadow Cabinet from 2011 to ...

. Compass holds an Annual General Meeting open to all members at which the constitution, policy and strategy of the organisation can be debated and amended.

Compass Youth

Compass Youth is an autonomous organisation which aims to engage young people to find out what issues really matter, develop their skills to turn ideas into action as well as organise and champion campaigns young people can get involved in. It is best known for its campaigning on

Votes at 16 Votes at 16 is a campaign in the United Kingdom which argues in favour of the reduction of the voting age to 16 for all public elections. The campaign espouses several principles in favour of lowering the voting age. Votes at 16 Coalition The Vo ...

, its participative manifesto debates and Love Difference festivals. It has developed right across the country represented regionally and on university campuses. It also has its own YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and Netvibes channels. Sam Tarry MP, was previously chair of the Compass Youth Organising Committee.

Funding

In November 2022, the funding transparency website

Who Funds You? Who Funds You? is a project that rates and promotes transparency of funding sources of think tanks. The project scored think tanks according to four criteria, namely whether the organisation discloses its income, whether it publishes financial de ...

gave Compass an A grade, the highest transparency rating (rating goes from A to E).

References

External links

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Ceasefire Interview
{{UK Labour Party 2003 establishments in the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) factions Organisations associated with the Labour Party (UK) Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom Progressivism in the United Kingdom Think tanks based in the United Kingdom Think tanks established in 2003 Socialist think tanks based in the United Kingdom