Lady Smith breaks silence to back Ed Miliband's reforms, saying they 'complete journey John embarked on over 20 years ago'
• My husband would have endorsed one member, one vote
Elizabeth Smith, the widow of the former Labour leader John Smith, has broken decades of political silence to endorse Ed Miliband's programme to reform the union-party link, saying it represents the completion of her husband's work.
Normally hugely reluctant to speak in public, Lady Smith claims in the Guardian that the changes "complete the journey John embarked upon over 20 years ago".
Ed Miliband is putting the package to a special Labour conference on Saturday confident it will be passed after a two-hour debate by an overwhelming majority, but he is struggling to enthuse some party members and union leaders of its relevance.
There are concerns that union leaders will respond by cutting affiliation levels to the party and so depriving it of millions in secure, stable funding – and that the plans to sign up as many as 300,000 union levy payers to a new £3-a-year affiliate status will fail to take off. But Milband's reforms are being gradually phased in over five years to keep the party's finances stable.
John Smith, Labour leader from 1992 until his death from a heart attack in 1994, came close to being forced to resign as party leader in 1993 over his plans to reform the union link. He wanted to introduce one member, one vote for Labour leadership elections and parliamentary selections, thus removing the union vote.
Smith abandoned changes to the Labour leadership, and right up until the last minute it looked as if he would be defeated at party conference in 1993 over parliamentary selections, only winning the day by a margin of 0.2%, largely thanks to a passionate last-minute speech by John Prescott.
His widow has been active, until recently chairing the Edinburgh festival, as well as working to improve governance in eastern Europe through the John Smith Memorial Trust. But she has not made a maiden speech in the Lords, even though she regularly votes. Explaining her silence, Smith writes: "In the years since his death, I have tried to keep out of political controversy. That is because for the 20 months John was leader, I had a ringside seat close enough to feel the force of every blow aimed at him and to teach me that he was doing one of the toughest jobs anyone can do. I have deliberately chosen to be a woman of many strong opinions but few words because I do not want to make the task of those who have succeeded him any harder by stirring the waters unnecessarily."
Privately more aligned to Miliband's politics than Tony Blair's, Smith writes "there is a task that John began that has remained unfinished. This was the application across the Labour party of that most democratic of principles: one member, one vote. Two decades on, Ed Miliband is on the brink of completing what John Smith started."
The reforms will require union members to make a positive choice over paying affiliation fees, and can then be contacted by the party to become affiliated supporters. The franchise for future leadership elections will be confined to party members and affiliated supporters voting on the basis of one person, one vote, ending the electoral college in which Labour MPs are given a third of the vote.
For the first time the party will be entitled to contact party supporters directly. The unions retain a collective voice at party conference where they will retain 50% of the vote, and will continue to dominate the party's national executive.
Miliband will tell the conference that the changes are designed to get people back into politics, saying too many union members are affiliated to the party in name only. He will say: "I don't want to break the link with working people, but in the 21st century not everyone wants to be a member of a political party, and you should not have to pay £43 to have a voice in the Labour party." Reported by guardian.co.uk 7 hours ago.
• My husband would have endorsed one member, one vote
Elizabeth Smith, the widow of the former Labour leader John Smith, has broken decades of political silence to endorse Ed Miliband's programme to reform the union-party link, saying it represents the completion of her husband's work.
Normally hugely reluctant to speak in public, Lady Smith claims in the Guardian that the changes "complete the journey John embarked upon over 20 years ago".
Ed Miliband is putting the package to a special Labour conference on Saturday confident it will be passed after a two-hour debate by an overwhelming majority, but he is struggling to enthuse some party members and union leaders of its relevance.
There are concerns that union leaders will respond by cutting affiliation levels to the party and so depriving it of millions in secure, stable funding – and that the plans to sign up as many as 300,000 union levy payers to a new £3-a-year affiliate status will fail to take off. But Milband's reforms are being gradually phased in over five years to keep the party's finances stable.
John Smith, Labour leader from 1992 until his death from a heart attack in 1994, came close to being forced to resign as party leader in 1993 over his plans to reform the union link. He wanted to introduce one member, one vote for Labour leadership elections and parliamentary selections, thus removing the union vote.
Smith abandoned changes to the Labour leadership, and right up until the last minute it looked as if he would be defeated at party conference in 1993 over parliamentary selections, only winning the day by a margin of 0.2%, largely thanks to a passionate last-minute speech by John Prescott.
His widow has been active, until recently chairing the Edinburgh festival, as well as working to improve governance in eastern Europe through the John Smith Memorial Trust. But she has not made a maiden speech in the Lords, even though she regularly votes. Explaining her silence, Smith writes: "In the years since his death, I have tried to keep out of political controversy. That is because for the 20 months John was leader, I had a ringside seat close enough to feel the force of every blow aimed at him and to teach me that he was doing one of the toughest jobs anyone can do. I have deliberately chosen to be a woman of many strong opinions but few words because I do not want to make the task of those who have succeeded him any harder by stirring the waters unnecessarily."
Privately more aligned to Miliband's politics than Tony Blair's, Smith writes "there is a task that John began that has remained unfinished. This was the application across the Labour party of that most democratic of principles: one member, one vote. Two decades on, Ed Miliband is on the brink of completing what John Smith started."
The reforms will require union members to make a positive choice over paying affiliation fees, and can then be contacted by the party to become affiliated supporters. The franchise for future leadership elections will be confined to party members and affiliated supporters voting on the basis of one person, one vote, ending the electoral college in which Labour MPs are given a third of the vote.
For the first time the party will be entitled to contact party supporters directly. The unions retain a collective voice at party conference where they will retain 50% of the vote, and will continue to dominate the party's national executive.
Miliband will tell the conference that the changes are designed to get people back into politics, saying too many union members are affiliated to the party in name only. He will say: "I don't want to break the link with working people, but in the 21st century not everyone wants to be a member of a political party, and you should not have to pay £43 to have a voice in the Labour party." Reported by guardian.co.uk 7 hours ago.