Briefing:NEC & CPDC elections – supporting nominations From: Karen Wilkie For attention of: All Party Officers, Party Branch Secretaries, Party Council Secretaries Published: 16th February 2023 Last updated: 16th February 2023 Printed: 2nd May 2024 Other formats: Print Party Council and Branch supporting nomination meetings for the NEC regional candidates and CPDC must place by 11 March. Self-nominations for the NEC Elections 2023-26 closed on 12 February. Party Councils and branches are now invited to submit supporting nominations for candidates for the eleven seats to represent Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the English regions. You can find a full list of NEC candidates and their election statements here. Each party council and branch may make up to two supporting nominations, at least one of which must be for a woman. Only one valid nomination was received for Wales, so that candidate will be declared elected and supporting nominations are not required. Supporting nominations must be agreed at a quorate meeting to which all eligible members have been invited. They may only be made for candidates in your section, although they may be for a someone from a different region. For example, a branch in London may nominate a candidate from the East region, or vice versa. Ideally, you will have already scheduled these meetings to take place after the hustings for your nation or region, when members will have had a chance to hear the candidates speak and to submit questions. You can find the dates for your local husting and register here. If you haven’t already sent notice for your nomination meeting, it would be a good idea to include the link to your region’s hustings and encourage your members to attend and submit questions. Information on the NEC candidates, as submitted with their nomination, is available on the Party’s website here and no other materials should be circulated. Candidates should not attend supporting nomination meetings. The exception to this is a candidates’ own branch, where they may speak and vote. The closing date for party councils and branches to submit supporting nominations for the NEC (& CPDC – see below) is 12 March. See below for the form to submit your branch or party council’s nomination. Supporting nominations are only being invited for your national or regional candidates. Party Councils and branches should not seek to endorse candidates for the BAME, (dis)Ability, LGBTQ+, Elected Representatives or Youth positions, as not all members in your branch or party council will be eligible to attend those hustings or vote. NEC 2023 – Supporting Nomination Form Summary of key dates 12 December 2022 Self-nominations open 12 February 2023 Closing date for self-nominations 20-22 February 2023 National/Regional zoom hustings 23 February – 11 March 2023 Branch & party council supporting nomination meetings 12 March 2023 Closing date for receipt of branch and party council supporting nominations 3 April 2023 NEC ballot opens 5 May 2023 Ballots close 10/11 June 2023 Induction & AGM for new NEC NEC Hustings There will be an on-line hustings, open to all members eligible to vote in that section. These have been organised centrally and zoom registration details have been sent to all eligible members. Date Who can attend 6pm, Monday 20 February Scotland All members in Scotland 7.30pm, Monday 20 February England North All members in the NE & Cumbria, North West and Yorkshire & Humber Regions 6pm, Tuesday 21 February Northern Ireland All members in Northern Ireland 7.30pm, Tuesday 21 February England Midlands All members in the East Midlands and West Midlands Regions 6pm, Wednesday 22 February England East and London All members in the East and London Regions 7.30pm, Wednesday 22 February England South All members in the South East and South West Regions 7pm, Monday 13 March BAME All members of the BAME network 7pm, Tuesday 14 March (dis)Ability All members of the (dis)Ability network 7pm, Wednesday 15 March Youth All members aged 30 and under 7pm, Thursday 16 March LGBTQ+ All members of the LGBTQ+ network 7pm, Tuesday 21 March Elected members Members of the Scottish Parliament, Senedd, London Assembly, Police & Crime Commissioners, Elected Mayors or Councillors who stood as ‘Labour and Co-operative’ at their most recent election or were endorsed by their local Co-operative Party as co-operative candidates Ballot The election for the seventeen places elected by individual members is being conducted by Civica. Links to vote will be emailed to members and will take place on line. Members who do not have an email address will be sent a postal vote but will be encouraged to vote on line if they can. To be eligible to vote, members must be current, not lapsed, and have applied to join the Party on or before 26 November 2022. Although candidates may only seek election to one seat, members may vote in as many sections as they are qualified to e.g. a councillor aged 30 or under will receive a link to vote for their regional section, the elected members’ section, the youth member and for any networks they are a member of. The ballot will open on 3 April 2023 and close on 5 May 2023. Conduct - Party Officers & Elected Representatives Party officers and elected representatives must not share access to the Party’s membership data with candidates, nor use this to support candidates. This also applies to candidates who are party or branch officers or elected representatives – you must not access the Party’s data to promote your (or another’s) candidacy. If you as an individual choose to endorse a candidate on social media, you must make it clear that this is in a personal capacity, not on behalf of your local party or branch unless they have agreed to make a supporting nomination for that candidate. Candidates have been reminded that as a Party, our co-operative values should be reflected in our actions as well as our policies, and as candidates and potential members of the NEC we expect them to abide by the highest standards of conduct. Any form of harassment, intimidation or bullying by or on behalf of candidates will be taken seriously and may result in their exclusion from the election and other disciplinary action within the Party’s rules. CPDC Nominations Party Councils and branches are also invited to submit supporting nominations for candidates for the 22 seats on the Co-op Party Disciplinary Committee. Applications closed on the 6 Feb and you can find the list of candidates here. Nominations may be made for up to two candidates, where there is more than one candidate at least one of which must be for a woman. Nominations must be submitted by 12 March. The link to fill in the nomination form is here. Each candidate that you nominate must live in your area, although this need not be your branch. Only candidates with at least one nomination will go forward to the ballot of Party Councils. CPDC Election – Supporting Nomination From Action Points Schedule your supporting nomination meetingThis should be between 23 February and 11 March Register for the hustings NECSubmit your supporting nominations by 12 March (More) CPDCSubmit your supporting nominations by 12 March (More) Resources NEC Candidates NEC Supporting Nomination CPDC Candidates CPDC Supporting Nomination NEC & CPDC elections – supporting nominations