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 e ...
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 develop ...
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 (UK), Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency.
In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliam ...
(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
''Labour Briefing'' is a monthly political magazine produced by members of the British Labour Party.
History and profile
The magazine began in 1980 as ''London Labour Briefing''. The founders were the members of the Chartist Minority Tendency, ...
''. 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
The Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory (SCLV) was originally formed in 1978 by left-wing members of the British Labour Party, including those associated with the Trotskyist group Workers' Fight and the publications ''London Labour Briefing'' ...
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 and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
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
*
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 inst ...
*
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 Manche ...
CLP
*
Brentford and Isleworth CLP
*
Chingford and Woodford Green
Chingford and Woodford Green is a constituency in North East London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sir Iain Duncan Smith of the Conservative Party since its creation in 1997.
Constituency profile
The seat covers th ...
CLP
*
Delyn CLP
*
Ilford South CLP
*
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
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
Leeds Central is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency recreated in 1983 represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 1999 b ...
CLP
*
Leyton and Wanstead 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 (Scotland)
*
Momentum (organisation)
Momentum is a British left-wing political organisation which has been described as a grassroots movement supportive of the Labour Party; since January 2017, all Momentum members must be (or become) members of the party. It was founded in 2015 ...
*
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
The People's Assembly Against Austerity (also known as The People's Assembly) is a political organisation based in the United Kingdom that was originally set up to end and reverse the country's government-instituted austerity programme.
The Peopl ...
* Free Speech on Israel
*
Jewish Voice for Labour
Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) is an organisation formed in 2017 for Jewish members of the UK Labour Party. Its aims include a commitment "to strengthen the party in its opposition to all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism... to uphold th ...
*
Labour Against the Witchhunt
Labour Against the Witchhunt (LAW) is a group formed in late 2017 to campaign against what it regards as politically motivated allegations of antisemitism in the UK Labour Party, which it calls a “witchhunt”. It also campaigns against what i ...
* 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
The Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory (SCLV) was originally formed in 1978 by left-wing members of the British Labour Party, including those associated with the Trotskyist group Workers' Fight and the publications ''London Labour Briefing'' ...
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)