Under current rules, rule-changes submitted by CLPs come up for consideration the year after they are submitted. So in September 2026 conference should be considering rule changes submitted by CLPs in or around June 2025.

However, we don’t know – and on our asking-round so far, we’ve found no-one who does know – which those rule changes will be. The CAC doesn’t publish them until they come before conference, so they remain “under cover” for the previous 15 months or so.

If your CLP submitted a rule change in June 2025, please let us know: lableftint@gmail.com.

The National Executive Committee, however, can submit rule changes at whatever short notice it likes, and often does so only days or hours before the conference. Watch out!

Andy Burnham has talked of a more democratic or at least less control-freaky regime in the Parliamentary Labour Party, but pointedly not about remedying undemocratic abuses in the broader party.

In 2007, when a reputedly somewhat more pro-union leader got a “coronation”, Gordon Brown replacing Tony Blair, he used it to push through conference a rule change to abolish motions altogether. No union opposed it. Aslef said it was going to, but on arriving at the conference hall found its seats already occupied, so gave up.

Probably the unions had accepted assurances that they could now get more through quiet words in Brown’s ear and so need not risk the wider arena of conference.

In 2026, affiliated unions have had a meeting with Burnham on 2 July, but the best report we know comes from the BBC rather than union or Labour channels.

“The meeting was held at the headquarters of the public sector union, Unison… Union sources described the meeting as ‘positive’.

“It is understood the GMB union raised… the ownership of water, as well as union access to workplaces.

“Unison raised the issue of migrant care workers, who are facing a longer wait for permanent residency under government plans. It is thought that Burnham is open to changing this aspect of immigration policy.

“Unite pressed for a wealth tax, more action on the cost of living and what Burnham’s plans for reindustrialisation would involve.”

Remember that union policy on migrant care workers visas, and wealth tax, actually won majorities even at the exceptionally-docile 2025 Labour conference, but has been swept under the carpet since then. Ditto on ending all military sales to Israel, which seems not to have been discussed on 2 July.

After the 2007 fiasco, the unions quickly realised they had been sold a crock. By 2010 the unions, led by the right-wing Unison, had pushed successfully for motions (though only “contemporary” motions) to be restored. Let’s hope union memories are at least that long.

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Apology: first version said: “By 2009 the unions, led by the right-wing Unison, had pushed…” Although Unison declared in 2009 that it wanted motions restored, it wasn’t until 2010 that the rule change to restore them was passed.