Last Thursday, two second year LSE students were elected to the national student wing of the Labour Party.
Rania Ramli, a second year Economics student, was elected National Chair. Angus Reilly, a second year Government and History student, was elected Vice-Chair for Campaigns and Policy, as well as a member of the Elections Committee.
Before and during the campaign period, some called for Labour Students to be shut down given its history of bureaucracy and inaccessibility. It has been accused of bias towards the right of the party. Those supported by Momentum and Labour Students Left did not win any of the 13 national positions, though did win some regional positions.
LSESU Labour’s chair, Catherine MacLean, commented: “I’m really pleased for Rania and Angus, who won positions on this year committee, and I know that they will be successful.
“However, the election process this year was deeply bureaucratic and this has meant not all our members could vote. This was disappointing: we were promised OMOV [One Man One Vote] at the last Labour Students conference and LSE delegates voted for it. Labour Students can’t be representative of all Labour Students unless all Labour students can vote.”
“Personally, I am frustrated with the organisation, and I know that many of my members feel the same.”
The official statement from Labour Students reads:
“This year, Labour Students is finally implementing ‘One Member, One Vote’ (OMOV). This is entirely in line with our constitution, which was democratically and overwhelmingly decided by National Conference. Despite the challenges of implementing a new system and new data protection regulation, more members than ever will have the opportunity to shape the future direction of our organisation.”
“To clarify any concerns, no club has been barred from affiliating, no member at an affiliated club barred from voting, and no member barred from being a candidate or delegate, provided the requirements, emailed to chairs and/or members, were met.”
