LABOUR PARTY ADOPTS NEW CONSTITUTION

The Labour Party has adopted a new Constitution that seeks to strengthen democracy within the party and introduce new structures for policy development and campaigns.

The new Constitution was created following input from members and a review of party structures, and was voted on by members on the opening night (Friday) of the Labour Party National Conference in Wexford.

Commenting on the document, Chair of the Labour Party Constitution Review Group, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan said:

“This has been a challenging but fascinating process. Over recent months, we have consulted with every member and unit of the party in order to draft a party constitution that reflects our values and empowers our activists.”

Labour leader Brendan Howlin, explained:

“The new Constitution is designed to achieve a few simple things.

“Firstly, we want to make very clear what Labour stands for. We have restated our core principles to reflect our commitment to social and economic justice, and to delivering equality through any means necessary.

“Democracy has been one of the core principles of the Labour Party since our establishment. We were the first to adopt a one-member, one-vote procedure, both for the election of our party leadership, and also for the selection of candidates for local, national and European elections.

“We believe now is the time to take the next step, and under the new Constitution, any full member of the party will now be able to attend the party conference as a delegate, thereby opening up the decision making process of the party.

“We also want to create a culture in our party that is above all focused on campaigns and policy. There have been times when our structures don’t allow members to have a detailed involvement in the development of campaigns and policies. We want to change that, and have proposed new mechanisms to achieve that. These mechanisms are also designed to revitalise our links with the trade union movement.

“The new Labour Party constitution was shaped and moulded by our members at every step of the way. Our party and our structures will be all the better in the future as a result.”