Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Saturday, 22nd September 2018 in Room 11B, Liverpool ACC, before Women’s Labour Conference starting at 10.30am. The AGM is open to full members of LWN.
Please be aware that the AGM is in the Conference secure zone, therefore you will need a Conference pass to attend; more details are available on the Labour Party’s website here.
At our AGM, you will find out the results of our elections (see below), receive reports from the Committee on our activities during the last year, and hear from speakers.
Management Committee Elections 2018
UPDATE - The Management Committee Elections polls have now opened, all LWN members who are eligible to vote will receive an email (or letter) with voting instructions and ballot from ERS, while the candidates statements will be part of this information, for your convenience you can also read the candidates statements here too.
Please be aware that candidates statements are listed in alphabetical order, yet on the actual ballot paper they are in random order generated electronically.
Do you think you've got what it takes to join LWN's Management Committee?
Every year, full LWN members elect a Committee who are responsible for all the work we do during the year. The next few years are going to be very exciting for us and have plans for more training, events and continue to campaign plus much more - so we require a hardworking, committed committee.
This year we will be holding elections for:
The Treasurer, and
Four Committee Members
All full members of Labour Women's Network are entitled to stand, as long as you have been a member of LWN for four months prior to the date nominations open (26th June 2018).
We warmly welcome and encourage involvement from women from all communities and backgrounds, including LGBT women, women with disabilities, BAME women and working class women. Committee members are expected to support making LWN as inclusive an organisation as possible.
All LWN committee positions are for a two year term.
Nominations open on Tuesday, 26th June 2018 and will close on Tuesday, 31st July 2018, both at noon.
What does an LWN committee member do?
Each non portfolio committee member will be assigned a specific set of responsibilities at the first committee meeting following the AGM and will be expected to lead LWN's work in that area.
Alongside individual responsibilities committee members will be expected to support larger LWN work, help run the organisation not simply advise on strategy, and be actively involved in LWN projects including organising our annual dinner and fundraising events, attend and deliver our training sessions and helping at annual and regional conferences. Many of these activities may be around the UK.
We hold a committee meeting once a month; mainly in London on a weekday evening, and expenses are paid for members who need to travel to attend; have phone conference meetings when required and hold special committee meetings to discuss strategy or a specific task once or twice a year (these may not be in London). It is also hoped that committee members will be available to assist at annual conference and other events we hold.
Posts Being Elected
Treasurer (1)
Alongside regular committee responsibilities the Treasurer is responsible for managing LWN's finances. This means being responsible for the bank account, keeping the accounts up to date, reporting back at our monthly Committee meetings and making sure that LWN complies with its legal responsibilities including reporting to the electoral commission.
If you want stand as Treasurer of LWN, please nominate yourself here.
Committee Members (4)
Members of the LWN committee are expected to take an active role in LWN's work; this includes supporting events through organisation and attendance, attending committee meetings and representing LWN at other labour movement events as a minimum. Each non portfolio committee member will be assigned a specific set of responsibilities at the first committee meeting following the AGM and will be expected to lead LWN's work in that area.
Alongside individual responsibilities committee members will be expected to support larger LWN events and projects.
If you want to stand as a Committee Member of LWN, please nominate yourself here.
For all posts, you will need to prepare a 250 word statement for your nomination form. The same statement will be made available on our website once polls are open, sent via a link with voting instructions to eligible members and may be shared on social media.
Please note: LWN (or you) cannot amend your statement once it has been submitted on your nomination form; any words after the 250 limit will be removed without notice so please count, and check your words carefully.
Management Committee Key Dates
The key dates for the election are:
Key dates for our Management Committee Election:
Nominations open: 26th June 2018, noon
Nominations close: 31st July 2018, noon
Polls open: 29th August 2018, noon
Eligible voting members will receive an email or letter via Electoral Reform Services (ERS) with voting details. Candidate’s statements will also be on our website from the 29th Aug 2018.
Polls close: 18th September 2018, noon
Results announced: 22nd September 2018 at our AGM at Annual Conference, Liverpool
If you haven’t received your ballot by the 3rd September, please get in touch here, and we will investigate and reissue if necessary. Please check your junk mail first; the email will come from Electoral Reform Services.
FAQ...
I have just nominated myself, what happens now?
Once your nomination has been submitted, we will verify that you are eligible to stand. The only reasons you will not be able to stand in our elections are:
a) you are not a full member of LWN, and/or
b) that you have not had four months membership prior to the nominations opening.
If you are not eligible to stand in our election, we will email you as soon as possible. For all eligible nominations we will contact you once nominations close.
Who conducts LWN's election process?
For a number of years now we have commissioned ERS (Electoral Reform Services) to administer our election (as do the national Labour Party and 90%+ of Trade Union elections).
ERS will send out an email or letter to eligible members with voting instructions and a link to candidate statements. If we haven’t got an email address for you or you have unsubscribed from our emails, you should receive this via post.
If you haven’t received your ballot by the 3rd September, please get in touch here, and we will investigate and reissue if necessary. Please check your junk mail first; the email will come from Electoral Reform Services.
Helen Pearce, LWN Secretary is Acting Returning Officer.
I’ve submitted my personal statement, what happens if it more than 250 words?
We ask that you make sure your statement is 250 words or below. If your statement is over 250 words we will remove the last words to make it 250 words without notice. So it is VERY important that you check your word count.
Will I be able to see who else is up for election?
Yes, once the polls are open we will put all the personal statements on our website and each eligible LWN member will receive voting instructions and a link to candidate statements.
What is, and happens at the AGM?
An annual general meeting (AGM) is a constitutional yearly gathering of our members. It allows members to hear reports from the Committee on the achievements and work of LWN over the year. Members can also ask questions of the Committee and make suggestions for next year.
At our AGM we also announce the results of our Management Committee Elections, and if required make any changes to the constitution.
Our AGM are usually held on the Saturday morning before Women’s Conference at the Labour Party Annual Conference, normally starting around 10.30am (don’t worry if you are attending women’s conference, as we are normally finished before the start of conference).
This year our AGM will take place on Saturday, 22nd September 2018 in Room 11B, Liverpool ACC before Women’s Labour Party Conference, starting at 10.30am.
We hope this gives you all the information you need, but please get it touch here if you have any questions.
Helen Pearce
Labour Women’s Network Secretary and Acting Returning Officer 2018