Press photographers, 2016 Labour Party Conferencefor Wikemedia Commons is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0What happens at Labour conference? What will this conference mean for Labour’s leadership? Will this be the year that the party embraces proportional representation?
Join the team at the Bylines Network podcast as they dive into these questions and more. Hosts Alex Toal and Chris Davis look at what actually happens at Labour conference, and revisit some highlights of conferences past.
Owen Winter: Labour for a New Democracy
This week, Chris spoke with Owen Winter, part of the campaign trying to get Labour to put electoral reform in its next manifesto. Equal votes would not only lead to a better democracy, with improved outcomes in areas like climate change and inequality, but it would lead to more people feeling like their voices are heard. Moreover, as Owen explains, our current electoral system of First Past the Post has a significant right-wing bias, and so getting rid of it would be good for Labour as well.
This year at conference, a record number of motions have been submitted to get Labour to back electoral reform. With 83 percent of the party’s members on-side, it only remains to be seen whether it can be passed through conference.
Mike Buckley: journalist and campaigner
Alex then spoke with Mike Buckley, journalist at Yorkshire Bylines and Byline Times, and a longstanding campaigner within the Labour party. Mike compares this conference to conferences past, and looks at what this moment can potentially be for the leadership.
The first mass in-person meeting for activists since the 2019 general election, conference can be a point to unify the party, and to mark a new start for Labour as they go into the autumn.
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