{"id":4502,"date":"2015-07-27T16:54:15","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T15:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=4502"},"modified":"2015-07-27T17:07:34","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T16:07:34","slug":"have-your-say-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=4502","title":{"rendered":"Have your say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You’ll have no doubt heard by now that there’s election on the horizon. An election you can take part in. An election where your voice really matters.<\/p>\n

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From August 14 you will get your chance to have your say in the future of the Labour Party \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and by doing so \u00e2\u20ac\u201cthe future of the country. But only if you sign up as a Labour Party affiliate before noon on August 12.<\/p>\n

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This summer will see contests for the Labour party leader, deputy leader, Scottish leader and London mayor.<\/p>\n

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And thanks to changes in the way these leaders are elected, power is put back into your hands in a new One Member, One Vote (OMOV) system.<\/p>\n

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What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s changed?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Historically, Labour leaders were elected through a three-college system \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one college was formed of MPs, the other of trade union and affiliated societies members, and the third of Labour party members.<\/p>\n

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This meant a single MP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vote had as much clout as 608 Labour party members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 votes and 12,915 union and affiliated members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 votes. With OMOV, however, every single vote carries equal weight \u00e2\u20ac\u201c your vote is just as good as your MP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n

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These changes, which were welcomed by Unite, were introduced last year to make the process a more democratic one.<\/p>\n

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How can I vote as a Unite member?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The new system means that political-levy paying trade union members won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get an automatic vote as in previous elections \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to sign up individually as an Affiliated Supporter.<\/p>\n

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The process is easy and costs nothing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Unite is now contacting members both by phone and in the workplace to help you to sign up if you want to.<\/p>\n

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To become an Affiliated Supporter, and so be able to vote in the leadership contests, you must:<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u02d8 pay the political levy and agree to support our collective affiliation. This costs nothing extra as it is included in your membership fee<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u02d8 declare that you support the aims and values of the Labour party and that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t support any organisation opposed to the party<\/p>\n

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The entire process, which only takes a few minutes, may be completed online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Remember; you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to support every Labour party policy to become an affiliate supporter, nor do you have to attend party meetings, although Affiliated Supporters are allowed to attend local meetings and take part in policy debates. But involvement in the life of the Party can be as much or as little as the supporter chooses.<\/p>\n

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Unite is not advising you who to back \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that is entirely your decision.<\/p>\n

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Collectively, Unite has taken the view to support Jeremy Corbyn for leader. The backing for Jeremy Corbyn was in recognition that his policies were most closely aligned with those of Unite.<\/p>\n

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There is no Unite nomination for the position of deputy, but there is a recommendation to support Tom Watson and Angela Eagle, by using your first and second preferences as you see fit.<\/p>\n

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What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the timetable?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nJune 17<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Labour leader and deputy leader hustings period begins. Find one near you here<\/a>.
\nJuly 13<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was the last day that you could sign up as an affiliated or registered supporter, for Scottish Labour leader and deputy leader selections.
\nAugust 12<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is the last day that you can sign up as an affiliated supporter or registered supporter, at noon, for Labour leader, deputy leader , and London mayoral selections
\nAugust 14<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ballots for Labour leader, deputy leader, and London mayor despatched. Ballot for Scottish leadership selection closes.
\nAugust 15<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Results of Scottish Labour leader and deputy leader selection announced
\nSeptember 10<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ballot for Labour leader leader, deputy leader and London mayor closes, at noon
\nSeptember 12<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Results for Labour leader, deputy leader and London mayor announced<\/p>\n

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Unite political director Jennie Formby urges everyone to sign up and help shape a party that truly reflects the hopes and dreams of ordinary working people.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt can only be a good thing if the men and women of our workplaces, our family, friends and neighbours have a say in political life,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPolitics is not some elite sport. It matters to our lives so it needs our members and the millions like them to keep it rooted in reality. This is a real chance to grab a bit of people power and get stuck into changing our country for the better.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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What are you waiting for?<\/p>\n

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I want to sign up to be an Affiliate Supporter<\/a><\/p>\n

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For more information on how to sign up, or help with running a workplace campaign, contact Anneliese Midgley at Anneliese.Midgley@unitetheunion.org.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’ll have no doubt heard by now that there’s election on the horizon. An election you can take part in. An election where your voice really matters.     From August 14 you will get your chance to have your say in the future of the Labour Party \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and by doing so \u00e2\u20ac\u201cthe future […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[324],"wps_subtitle":"UNITElive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guide to voting in the Labour leadership elections","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4502"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4988,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4502\/revisions\/4988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}