Miles now in favour of one member, one vote
COUNSEL General – and potential Welsh Labour leadership contender – Jeremy Miles says he now favours electing Carwyn Jones’ successor to be elected in a one member, one vote (OMOV) ballot.
Welsh Labour is split over whether to continue to use an electoral college or whether to switch to OMOV.
How the dispute is resolved is important because it could determine who becomes the next First Minister.
In the electoral college, ordinary party members have only one third of the votes in electing the Welsh Labour leader.
A further third go to the party’s MPs, AMs and MEPs, while the rest go to members of trade unions and other bodies affiliated to the Labour Party.
Supporters of OMOV say the electoral college is undemocratic, because the value of an elected politician’s vote is nearly 400 times that of an ordinary member’s.
They also point out that in the recent deputy leadership election – which saw MP Carolyn Harris defeat AM Julie Morgan despite losing the members’ section of the ballot by a big margin – the turnout of union and other affiliates was just 4.7%.
But some trade union leaders have expressed concern that moving to OMOV would underline the link between the party and the unions, even though OMOV is already used in UK Labour and Scottish Labour elections.
On June 9 the party’s Welsh Executive Committee (WEC) will hold a crunch meeting to discuss the election of Mr Jones’ successor.
Now Mr Miles, who until now has backed retaining the electoral college, has declared that he now supports OMOV.
Writing on his blog, he stated: “The party was founded in 1900 by the trade unions. The electoral college was put in place in 1981 to take away the power to elect leaders from the Parliamentary Labour Party and share it with trade unionists, affiliates and members. “That was a step in the right direction. “The block vote was then abolished within the college in 1993, giving power to individual union members. Again, an important step.
“I have always supported the principle of the electoral college, though always also accepted the need for reform. I voted for it as a member of the WEC.
“But listening to the debate in the party in the recent weeks, I feel that as a movement we are now ready for a change in how we elect our leader.”
He went on to say that the argument behind removing the separate section in the college for elected representatives was powerful – that each vote should carry the same weight.
He stated: “If the principle is that every vote cast should carry the same weight, that should apply to everyone – members, elected politicians, trade unionists and other affiliate members.
“That means a single integrated electorate, each vote equal, but bringing together all parts of the movement.
“This combined electorate would include, together with party members, members of affiliated unions, Co-operative Party, or other affiliates.
“In this way, we can ensure that the voices of trade unionists, cooperators and other affiliates have their rightful place alongside party members in electing the leader.”