Public and Commercial Services Union

The report on the A40 ‘Political Campaigning’ consultation has been published today. The consultation asked branches to consider the process for standing or supporting candidates in national elections.

Backing candidates in election campaigns could be an additional tool in our campaign against the cuts.

We encourage branches to discuss the report with members and to encourage members to download the report from these pages.

This briefing outlines the responses and next steps in the process.

Background

Annual Delegate Conference 2010 carried motion A40 on political campaigning (see Appendix 1 of the report). The National Executive Committee (NEC) was instructed to consult branches on detailed proposals for standing or supporting candidates in elections.

Motion A40 was drawn up by the NEC, following the prior consultation on ADC 2009 Motion A72 (see Appendix 2 of the report). As reported to ADC 2010, the A72 consultation responses showed a 64% majority of the 135 branches that responded in favour of standing or supporting candidates in elections in certain circumstances.

However, the A72 consultation also raised a number of detailed questions about how this would work in practice – both from branches in favour and against the proposal.

The NEC considered these issues and drafted motion A40 to ADC 2010. A40 instructed the NEC to organise a further consultation within the union about how standing or supporting candidates might work in practice – examining all the issues that were raised through the A72 consultation. Delegates at ADC 2010 passed A40 on a card vote by 153,470 (64%) to 86,799 (36%).

The consultation ran from mid-September until 22 November 2010 and asked for responses to six questions:

1. How should the process of candidate selection work?
2. How do we deal with the issue of the civil service code?
3. Should we back individual candidates from other parties (whether major or minor parties) or only stand or support independents?
4. How should we consider dealing with BNP candidacies in areas where we might look to stand or support candidates?
5. What should be the process for deciding the electoral platform on which candidates might stand or be supported?
6. (For branches in Scotland and Wales) Should we consider standing or supporting candidates in constituency elections only or in the ‘top-up’ seats too?

Responses

127 branches and 3 regional committees responded to the A40 consultation. This represents more than one in seven branches in the union responding. This is therefore a sizeable sample.

The detailed and thoughtful responses from branches and regional committees showed that members are carefully considering how backing candidates would work in practice and how it could assist with our campaigning objectives, in a period when we are under unprecedented attack.

The consultation showed that a majority of branches continue to support the proposal that the union considers standing and supporting candidates in certain circumstances and has set out a clear mandate to proceed, within the scope of the feedback received

Next Steps

The March NEC will agree the text of a motion to ADC 2011, based on the NEC’s comments to the consultation responses.

The motion to ADC 2011 will recommend a full membership ballot to decide whether the union supports candidates in certain circumstances as part of our campaigning. If the motion is passed by conference, then the final say will be through a full membership ballot, later in 2011.

This consultation process on Political Campaigning, over the last two years, has demonstrated the union’s democratic principles, has been accountable to ADCs, and has engaged with branches and members on clear questions. This will continue through to ADC 2011 and, if necessary, beyond.

Backing candidates in election campaigns could be an additional tool in our campaign against the cuts.

We encourage branches to discuss the report with members in advance of ADC 2011, and to encourage members to download the report from these pages.

Further copies of the report are available on request, email andrewf@pcs.org.uk  

Mark Serwotka                                          Janice Godrich
General Secretary                                     President

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  Branch briefing - A40 political campaigning report - where next?

View the full report on political campaigning