As part of the National Agreement between the Co-operative Party and the Labour Party, Co-operative Party Councils affiliate to every Constituency Labour Party (CLP) in their area on behalf of the membership of the wider co-operative movement.

This affiliation facilitates the Co-operative Party’s involvement in the Labour Party locally, allowing the Party to take part in the selection of candidates, support local campaigning and join in policy debates.

If the CLP has a General Committee (GC) or delegate structure, the Co-operative Party is also entitled to send up to five delegates. Although it is the Party Council that is affiliated to the CLP, generally the power to elect delegates is devolved to the relevant local branch.

If the CLP has an All Member Meeting (AMM) structure, then it will not have delegates from the Co-operative Party and other affiliates, however, the local Co-operative Party branch should still seek to become active within the CLP, including through supporting joint candidates in elections.

Many CLPs also have a place on their Executive Committee (EC) for the Co-operative Party or a co-operative affiliates section, this happens in both GC and AMM structures.

Finally, the National Agreement also entitles the Co-operative Party to elect a representative to the Local Campaign Forum (LCF) where the relevant Party Council endorses candidates in the area to stand at elections as Labour and Co-operative. This position is available to all LCFs and is not related to the structures of the relevant CLPs.

Payment of affiliation fees is now handled by Co-operative Party Head Office. Local branches and/or Party Councils agree in advance how many delegates they wish to send (between one and five). This payment is then made through Labour Party Head Office direct to the CLP bank account.

The Co-operative Party affiliates to every CLP regardless of its structure.

You can download a letter here to give to your CLP Treasurer or Secretary, which explains how the 2020 payment was made and how it will appear on their bank statement.

Local Co-operative Party secretaries should give the names and details of Co-operative Party delegates to the GC, EC and LCF directly to the CLP Secretary as this information is not held by Head Office.

The Co-operative Party has a longstanding commitment to ensuring equal representation of women within our internal structures.

As part of this, Co-operative Party branches have a responsibility to ensure that their delegations to CLPs are gender balanced.

Information on how the Party’s expectations around gender balance in delegations can be found here  Gender Equality – Co-operative Party

Delegates to CLPs are elected for a term of one year and can be elected at any meeting provided seven days’ notice has been given (i.e. not just your AGM).

When electing CLP delegates, we suggest that you use the procedures below:

• When calling the meeting we suggest that you invite nominations in advance, as this will allow you to prepare ballot papers (if needed). If you receive more nominations than the number of vacancies, then an election of branch members must be held.
• Anyone can nominate themselves provided they have been a member for at least nine months; are up to date with their membership fees; are a member of the Labour Party; and live in the constituency.
• To be eligible to vote someone must have been a member for at least three months; be up to date with their membership fees; and be assigned to that branch of the Co-operative Party (they do not need to live in the constituency itself).
• You should give each eligible member a ballot paper with the list of candidates and inform them they can vote for as many candidates as there are available places. For example, if you have five places, then members can vote for up to five candidates by putting an ‘X’ next to their name. They do not need to use all five votes if they don’t wish to.
• When the tellers have counted the votes, the reserved places for women must be filled first. For example, if you have five places, the two women with the highest number of votes would be declared elected first, even if there are men who have a higher vote. Once the places reserved for women have been filled, the remaining places are allocated to the remaining candidates (both men and women) with the highest votes.
• If you don’t have enough women candidates to fill the available positions, then these places must remain vacant.
• If you are unable to fill these positions on ongoing basis and a woman who has recently joined expresses an interest in being a delegate, then you may contact Head Office to ask for an exemption. If granted this would allow you to temporarily waive the rule that someone must be a member for at least nine months.
• It’s important to remember that delegates take up their position at the CLP AGM, and so there may be a delay between the meeting of the Co-operative Party where they have been elected, and attending their first CLP meeting. If a member is elected to fill a delegate position that is vacant, then they will not have to wait until the CLP AGM to take up their position.

Where there are fewer candidates than places available, then all the candidates will be declared elected.

If you are unable to elect all your places with members who have at least nine months’ membership, please contact Head Office as we may be able to waive this requirement in certain circumstances.

CLP: Constituency Labour Parties are units of the Labour Party covering a House of Commons constituency in England and Wales or a Scottish Parliament constituency in Scotland. A single CLP covers all of Northern Ireland’s constituencies.

GC: General Committee is the name given to the governing body of a CLP that uses a delegate structure. Under a GC, delegates are elected by Labour Party branches, the Co-operative Party, trade unions, and socialist societies. Often GCs will invite all members to attend their meetings, but only delegates can vote.

AMM: All Member Meetings is the name given to the governing body of a CLP that doesn’t use a delegate’s structure. In these CLPs all Labour Party members can attend and vote and there are no delegates.

EC: Executive Committees are a smaller group of representatives elected by CLPs to act on their behalf. In many cases the Co-operative Party will have a seat on the EC either in its own right; through a co-operative affiliates section; or if the constituency has an official Co-operative Party MP or PPC.

LCF/LGC: Local Campaign Forums or Local Government Committees co-ordinate the Labour Party’s local election campaigns, bringing together the various CLPs that may cover the same council area. The Co-operative Party is entitled to a representative on these bodies where we have endorsed joint Labour and Co-operative candidates. As the Party has endorsed candidates in many parts of the country, most LCFs should have a Co-operative Party representative.

Party Councils are units of the Co-operative Party supported by a co-operative society and are responsible for organising the Party in their area. Party Councils have branches that cover a smaller area and are the main way that members engage with the Party. Party Councils formally affiliate to the CLP but usually branches will elect the delegates. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are each governed by a single Party Council. In England a Party Council will normally cover one or more counties.