Announcing the news on her blog following today’s Co-op Group Board meeting,  Member Nominated Director Hazel Blears said:

I am delighted that the Co-op Group Board is recommending that the Co-operative Party subscription is approved at this year’s AGM on 21 May, and recommending that Co-op Group members vote to support it.

To me, as a Member Nominated Director on the Board, this is a very welcome decision and one which I have consistently promoted. If supported by members at the AGM, it will reaffirm and renew our historic, democratic partnership with the Co-operative Party.

I have been a Co-op Party member for more than 25 years and I know how important the Party’s work is.

The Co-op is more than just a business and our partnership with the Party is one of the ways we show it. Because we believe in changing society it is right that we support engagement in the democratic and political process, at the same time as we set an example as Britain’s leading ethical business.

The Party’s policy work and engagement with national and local government has been vital in creating a better environment for all co-operatives and growing the co-operative movement. I believe the Co-op Group, as Britain’s biggest co-op, is absolutely right to support this work, not just in our own business interests, but in the interests of all Co-ops.

The Board has recommended that Co-op Group members support Motion 12 to approve political subscriptions. Online and postal balloting among eligible members will begin Thursday 21st April for members who are not attending the AGM in person. The results of the vote will be announced at the Group’s AGM in Manchester on Saturday 21st of May.  At last year’s AGM the Board did not make a recommendation on political funding.

Welcoming the news, Co-operative Party General Secretary Claire McCarthy said:

For a century the Cooperative Party has been the political voice of the cooperative movement in the rooms where decisions are made – in Westminster, Cardiff Bay, Holyrood and town halls across the country.  The Party and the movement work together to make the case for a more cooperative Britain where power and wealth are more equally shared.

We are proud that both the Cooperative Group Board and its National Members Council are asking members to vote to keep this important partnership going by supporting Motion 12 when they receive their voting packs this week.

To learn more about the campaign to maintain the partnership between the Co-operative Party and the Co-operative Group, visit www.keepit.coop