Co-operative Party Annual Conference

Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 October 2021

Annual Conference is the Co-operative Party’s showcase of co-operative politics and the largest political online gathering of the year for the UK co‑operative movement.  This year, once again – due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic – be once again held virtually and Live streamed via a specially-built bespoke conferencing website.  Key aspects of Conference will include:

• Chair’s address from Jim McMahon MP
• A series of leading Labour & Co‑operative keynote speakers and players from co‑operative and socialist movements
• Interactive participatory policy workshops and debate on:
  • Reinvigorating our High Streets
  • Social Care
  • Other recent campaigns
• Parliamentary reports from Westminster, Holyrood and Cardiff Bay
• Following feedback from 2020’s event, we’ll be incorporating plenty of time for online networking with like-minded co-operators too

Co-operative Party Ltd AGM & Conference Voting

Saturday 16 October 2021 (9.30am-12.30pm)

The Annual General Meeting of Co-operative Party Ltd will take place on Saturday 16 October from 9.30 to 12.30pm.  Party Councils and Subscribing Societies are invited to send delegates to attend and vote.  Please submit your organisation’s delegates to the AGM 2021 & Conference Voting session here: https://party.coop/conference-agm-2021-delegate-registration/

Do note that this meeting will also incorporate voting on policy, organisational motions, rules changes and the Conference Arrangements Committee (normally held during Conference period), so delegates should make themselves available to take part in our online Conference policy debates the preceding weekend but also be online to participate in the AGM & Conference Voting on Saturday 16 October.

If you have any questions regarding this year’s Annual General Meeting and Conference Voting, please email events@party.coop

Why?

Coronavirus has changed the ways we all live and work and the Party feels we can accurately reflect the look and feel of Conference using some of the conferencing technology we have all become used too during lockdown.   We have a growing Party membership and this is our opportunity to share our ongoing work to a larger audience than we have been able to do before – from the comfort of your own home. 

Deadlines

Monday 12 July

• Preliminary agenda (i.e. provisional programme, organisational motions and rule changes) circulated to parties & societies

Friday 23 July

• Deadline for parties & societies to submit responses to any rule changes

Friday 1 September

• Achievement Awards – each year we highlight the inspiring work of some of our most active members by presenting awards that recognise the strength of their commitment to the Co-operative Party.  If you have someone you’d like to thank publicly, please complete the attached form: https://party.coop/members/recognition-awards/.
• Deadline for any amendments to Organisational motions

Friday 17 September

• Advise names of your delegates to the AGM and Conference Voting.  Any member can attend but only delegates appointed by Party Councils and Subscribing Societies will receive a vote for the Conference Arrangements Committee.  Ideally delegates should make themselves available to attend policy debates during Annual Conference (9 & 10 September), as well as attend the AGM and Conference Voting (morning of 16 October).
• Advise appointment of the Lead Delegate to the AGM.

Annual General Meeting 

The AGM of Co-operative Party Ltd will take place on Saturday 16th October 2021 online only, following a decision by the NEC. 

Conference Arrangements Committee 

The Conference Arrangements Committee (CAC) governs the procedure of the business of Conference.  The CAC is composed of five persons: two elected by ballot at each Annual Conference (one to serve for 3 years and one to serve for 1 year) and a fifth member from the NEC.  These are currently Lis Telcs – chair, Peter Smith, Stephen Powers, Theresa Vaughan and Abigail Marshall-Katung (NEC representative).  In 2019 Sabiha Shahzad was also appointed as BAME observer.

No election took place in 2020 due to the pandemic, so the candidates elected at Glasgow 2019 served an additional year.  Lis Telcs and Stephen Powers’ terms of office end in 2021 although both are eligible for re-election.   This year’s ballot for the 2 places on the CAC will take place on Saturday 16 October.   

Please contact i.oozeerally@party.coop if you require a CAC candidate nomination form.  Nominations should be received no later than 29 August.  No more than one representative can be elected from any one region, so members in the East Midlands or Yorkshire and Humber will not be eligible to stand this year.

Accessibility 

We will make provisions for members who are deaf to take part. 

We are also considering ways to support members who do not have access to computers to participate.  Please contact us if you or any of the members of your branch/Party Council need support with this.  

Why have we made this change to a virtual Conference? 

We are unsure if social distancing guidelines will have been relaxed by the autumn to permit a Conference such as ours with 500+ attendees to go ahead. 

As Conference brings together members from across the UK it also poses a risk of spreading infection, and would likely exclude many people who may still be self-isolating. 

Annual Conference is also the single biggest expenditure for the Party nationally and for party councils. Many event insurance policies, including ours, will not cover the cancellation of events due to Covid-19. That means if we didn’t cancel the Conference venue until later in the year, it would not be possible for us to secure a partial refund of the costs incurred. 

By cancelling the physical element of Conference now, we are able to reduce the financial loss that the Party will incur. Importantly though it gives us time to focus on developing a new type of Conference, that will be accessible to more people and ensure everyone can take part safely. 

If the guidelines are relaxed by October, we hope to be able to organise local events that bring together members in smaller groups to take part in the Conference. We’ll also be looking for your ideas on the type of conference you would like to see.