Rhodri Morgan will today fire the starting gun for the race to succeed him. (UPDATE I really must stop giving him the benefit of the doubt. Come in number 70…you’re time is up )
Ten years ago when Welsh Labour last held a leadership contest, the process for appointing the leader of the Labour Group in the Assembly was as controversial as the issues.
Even though Rhodri Morgan has not delivered on his pledge to overhaul the election process (nor did Alun Michael deliver on his pledge to secure a seat for the Welsh Party on the ruling NEC), there have been some changes to the way the electoral college works.
Each section of the college gets a third of the votes, but the Union (affiliated organisations) section will no longer be open to the abuse of 1999 where ‘regional’ executives decided how the votes of their membership should be cast.
This time there will be no block vote. Unions will be have to ballot their membership and then divide their vote proportionaly according to the wishes of their membership.
Here’s how the electoral college breaks down, as I understand it:
Section 1 (AMs / MPs):
56 people
Section 2: Members –
11,000 people
Section 3 (affiliated organsiations)
Unite 100,450
Aslef 2,000
Bectu 10,000
CWU 14,000
Community 10,000
GMB 51,000
Musician’s Union 2,000
NUM S Wales 5,000
Ucatt 5,000
Unison Wales Labour Link 52,000
Usdaw 22,000
TSSA 1,000
Societies:
Fabian 1,000
Socialist Health Associations 1,000
Wales Co-op Party 10,000
Welsh Lab Students 1,000
So an individual party member vote will be worth less than 1% of an MP/AM vote. People power!
Gethin 5:14 pm on 27 September, 2009 Permalink
The real question, of course, is whether the unions will be both forced to ballot and to split their votes proportionally. I have heard rumours that UNITE will not be doing the later if their favourite candidate (no idea, sorry) wins.
I would hope the Labour HQ are trying to prevent a farcical election like the Michael-Morgan election.
Dr. Christopher Wood 6:17 pm on 27 September, 2009 Permalink
“Rhodri Morgan has not delivered on his pledge to …”
What about Rhodri Morgan’s pledge to increase Welsh GVA from 77% to 90% of the UK average?
Welsh GVA is … where exactly?
Answer: Welsh GVA is currently about 75% of the UK average.
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