Regional Parties - a force for good or a home for superannuated wannabes?

I am currently serving my third term as an Officer of my Regional Party, and I have frequently mused on the purpose of Regional Parties generally. At times, this has been less than entirely obvious but I feel that I’ve learned enough to explain what they (should) do and why they sometimes fail.

Let me start by saying that, in my view, Regional Parties are much like Local Parties. The skills required to do the job are basically the same, although the complexity of the issues is somewhat greater, and this is where the problems often start. If Local Party Executives are a manifestation of the egos of those involved, then bear in mind that the strongest egos are generally those that rise to the top in Regional politics - read into that what you will…

So let’s look at the responsibilities of a Regional Party, in this instance London, broken down into the various standing committees:

1. Finance and Administration - responsible for financial and staffing issues, it consists of the Regional Officers plus a staff representative. Unfortunately, this often translates into general meetings of the Officers, where the reports that are scheduled to be put to the Regional Executive are considered. The committee has responsibility for hiring and firing staff, including the Campaigns Officer(s), reviewing budget progress (all spending officers are technically present) and is empowered to set up sub-committees to deal with aspects such as fundraising.

2. Campaigns - responsible for campaign overview, support and activist training. Good committees tend to keep a weather eye out for events in their Region, such as council by-elections, and offer support to Local Parties where that support might be helpful. This does not necessarily mean running a full campaign, but might focus on party building, campaign training or recruitment. A key role is to cascade best practice and roll out new ideas.

3. Candidates - the only Regional Committee whose membership is directly elected, as specified in the English Constitution. The committee supports the Regional Candidates Chair (again directly elected) to organise the appointment and training of Returning Officers, assessors, facilitators and selection committee members. The involvement of committee members can vary wildly, depending on the attitude and style of the Regional Candidates Chair, their willingness and/or ability to delegate and the desire of committee members to contribute. This committee also has responsibility for drawing up Selection Rules for Regional Assembly selections (only applicable to London thus far).

4. Conference - a fairly obvious one, I suppose. Most Regions organise two a year, one of which must be the Annual General Meeting, which must take place between 1 October and 30 November, just as it is for Local Parties.

5. Local Parties - this committee is responsible for compliance and discipline issues. If an individual, or even a Local Party, is in breach of the Regional, English or Federal Constitutions, this committee will usually hear the complaint (candidate selection issues fall under the auspices of either the Regional Candidates Committee or its English counterpart). Interestingly, they are not empowered to seek evidence themselves, or to call witnesses for the most part, but sit in judgement on any complaints that are received. Generally speaking, this committee has a membership which brings to bear tremendous experience, and a grasp of legal process can be invaluable, if not actually essential.

6. Policy - an often unsung committee, if only because there is very little evident by way of Regional policy, even in comparatively homogeneous Regions. Very few motions are ever successfully submitted to Federal Conference by the various Regional Parties, and yet I firmly believe that the Regional level is an excellent place to iron out any ‘wrinkles’ that a policy motion might have. This committee is also responsible for drawing up Regional Assembly manifestos where appropriate.

So now we have an idea of the responsibilities assigned to Regional Parties, but how should they operate? Naturally, I have a view on this subject, but I'm going to save it for another occasion and intend to ponder this on a beach far, far away...