Keir Starmer endured a “car crash” meeting with union chiefs on Friday afternoon in which he failed to drum up support for changes to Labour party rules.
The opposition leader had wanted to rewrite the regulations for his party’s internal elections in a move critics said was an attempt to “gerrymander” future leadership elections to the disadvantage of the left.
But Sir Keir looked set to lose his first major conference battle after catastrophically misjudging the level of opposition to the move – which would have ended “one member, one vote” and brought in an electoral college system whereby MPs and unions would hold most of the power.
If all had gone to plan, Sir Keir would have won support for the change at the meeting on Friday afternoon before taking the proposal to the party’s national executive committee (NEC) in the evening for approval – and then on to conference next week.
But after union leaders panned his proposals for a second time this week, Labour sources admitted on Friday evening that the proposals would not be brought to the NEC meeting.
Allies of Sir Keir are now thought to be trying to negotiate a “face-saving” rule change that would give the leadership a desperately needed win to restore its authority – and potentially still dilute the power of the left.
But Sir Keir’s critics from within the party celebrated the apparent death of the electoral college plan.
“Starmer’s attack on democracy is floundering,” said Gaya Sriskanthan, co-chair of left-wing campaign group Momentum.
“This delay has been won by the grassroots members who have taken action to organise their delegates, lobby their unions, and mobilise ahead of conference.
“But it’s not over yet. We have to keep up the pressure to make sure this rule change, and all the other regressive changes concocted by the leadership, get comprehensively rejected.”
The NEC will meet again on Saturday morning, and Sir Keir’s allies hope they will have agreed something concrete with union chiefs in advance that they can bring to conference.
Sources say the meeting with the trade unionists on Friday afternoon was characterised by even those who are normally allies of Sir Keir giving the leader a hard time over the policy.
UK news in pictures
Show all 50
1/50UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
24 September 2021
Police officers remove two protesters from the top of a tanker, as Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent. The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London
PA
UK news in pictures
23 September 2021
Gabriella, the seven year old daughter of imprisoned British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, joins in a game on a giant snakes and ladders board in Parliament Square, to show the “ups and downs” of her mother’s case to mark the 2,000 days she has been detained in Iran
AP
UK news in pictures
22 September 2021
A new sign hangs on the Millicent Fawcett statue after it was altered by ‘CrackTheCrises’ coalition activists to highlight the climate crisis as a feminist struggle in Parliament Square in London
EPA
UK news in pictures
21 September 2021
Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for £12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent
PA
UK news in pictures
20 September 2021
Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London
PA
UK news in pictures
19 September 2021
Bubbles surround Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium
Action Images/Reuters
UK news in pictures
18 September 2021
Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester,
Reuters
UK news in pictures
17 September 2021
Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4×7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative ‘Every Can Counts’, in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September
PA
UK news in pictures
16 September 2021
Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson
PA
UK news in pictures
15 September 2021
Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
14 September 2021
Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk
PA
UK news in pictures
13 September 2021
Luke Jerram’s ‘Museum of the Moon’ at Durham Cathedral
PA
UK news in pictures
12 September 2021
Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his “awesome” year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than £150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospital’s charity
PA
UK news in pictures
11 September 2021
British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women’s singles final of the US Open in New York
AP
UK news in pictures
10 September 2021
People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria
PA
UK news in pictures
9 September 2021
Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queen’s Guard
PA
UK news in pictures
8 September 2021
Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London
Reuters
UK news in pictures
Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London
A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled “Prairie” by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition ‘Mixing it up: Painting it up’ at the Hayward Gallery in London
EPA
UK news in pictures
6 September 2021
Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic
PA
UK news in pictures
5 September 2021
People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole
PA
UK news in pictures
4 September 2021
Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London.
PA
UK news in pictures
3 September 2021
South Africa’s Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men’s 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain’s Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
PA
UK news in pictures
2 September 2021
A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season.
PA
UK news in pictures
1 September 2021
Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire
PA
UK news in pictures
31 August 2021
Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium
Reuters
UK news in pictures
30 August 2021
Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London
EPA
UK news in pictures
29 August 2021
A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London
PA
UK news in pictures
28 August 2021
Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
POOL/AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
27 August 2021
Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit
Action Images via Reuters
UK news in pictures
26 August 2021
An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London
Reuters
UK news in pictures
25 August 2021
Gold Medallist Great Britain’s cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Women’s C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold
Reuters
UK news in pictures
24 August 2021
A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London
PA
UK news in pictures
23 August 2021
Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
22 August 2021
Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest
PA
UK news in pictures
21 August 2021
People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London
Reuters
UK news in pictures
20 August 2021
People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach.
PA
UK news in pictures
19 August 2021
Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire
PA
UK news in pictures
18 August 2021
Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families
PA
UK news in pictures
17 August 2021
Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing
Reuters
UK news in pictures
16 August 2021
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute’s silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week
PA
UK news in pictures
15 August 2021
2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival
PA
UK news in pictures
14 August 2021
A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident
PA
UK news in pictures
13 August 2021
Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening
PA
UK news in pictures
12 August 2021
Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair
PA
UK news in pictures
11 August 2021
Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges
PA
UK news in pictures
10 August 2021
Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London
Reuters
UK news in pictures
9 August 2021
The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
PA
UK news in pictures
8 August 2021
Great Britain’s Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan
PA
UK news in pictures
7 August 2021
People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen’s Park, Glasgow
PA
UK news in pictures
6 August 2021
Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women’s 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14
Getty
As was the case earlier in the week, some unions were openly hostile to the proposals, with even moderates unconvinced.
Before Friday’s meeting, Unison, the country’s biggest union, appeared to set itself against the plan after a majority of members on its Labour Link committee, which governs its relationship with the party, released a statement saying they opposed the change.
Sir Keir ordinarily has a majority on the party’s NEC as long as he has support from moderate-led trade unions, but he failed to win their support for the proposals on this occasion.
A return to the electoral college has little support in Labour ranks outside its Blairite right wing, which would benefit from such a change because it has minority support within the membership but a major caucus among MPs in the parliamentary party.