This year will see a huge set of elections to several bodies within the Labour Party with the power to influence strategy, policy and culture within our party.
We've been working hard with our brilliant team of progressive candidates for the National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Policy Forum (NPF), that Mainstream members endorsed earlier this year, to secure nominations from CLPs across the country.
This is crucial for getting Mainstream candidates on the ballot ahead of the members' vote this summer.
Read our candidates' statements and pledge your support to get them nominated here.
Mainstream is only standing candidates for the CLP sections of the NEC and NPF this year, but this month, the Interim Council voted to support two independent candidates standing for election in other sections of this year's internal elections who are strongly aligned with our vision and values for Labour.
These independent candidates are Rich Taylor (L1765807) who is standing for the National Constitutional Committee, and Emily Pomroy-Smith (L1463277) who is standing to be disabled members' rep on the NEC.
We hope you'll support them in your CLPs to elect a strong, broad-based team committed to pluralism, democracy and participation.
Mainstream held its first parliamentary reception in March to support our outreach and engagement with Labour MPs, peers and others.
It was attended by members of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Labour staff and journalists who heard rousing speeches from Angela Rayner MP and Tony Vaughan MP.
The event quickly made headlines, with Angela Rayner's call for a rethink of the government's migration policy picking up huge interest.
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When Labour’s values shine, we transform the country. On migration and asylum, it’s no different.
That's why we took a stand for mainstream Labour values this month and called for a migration system rooted in solidarity, community and social justice.
If you haven't already, sign our petition calling on the government to guarantee 4 key principles in its reforms to UK's migration system.
In March, we held the third in our series of parliamentary seminars for Labour MPs and peers.
We teamed up with the UCL Policy Lab and Joseph Rowntree Foundation for 'Who are Labour's people, and who should they be?', co-chaired by Paula Barker MP and Clive Lewis MP.
We explored polling on the popularity of the Employment Rights Act and debated how different progressive policy platforms can help Labour to build new and stable coalitions of voters.
The seminar series is part of our efforts to support Labour's intellectual renewal - the heart of any successful political project that can transform the country.
We kicked off March's members' events with a special live discussion after Labour's disastrous result in the Gorton and Denton by-election - Where next for Labour? - for which we were joined by guests from the New Statesman, More in Common, and Equity.
We were blown away by your energy and ideas at our March Policy Assembly where over 100 Mainstream members joined us with Jon Cruddas to discuss and debate the vision and values that Labour needs at this present moment.
We'll soon be in touch with an invitation to our next Policy Assembly which will start the process of exploring the priority policy areas that you, our members, selected during the call and via the survey we sent out afterwards.
We also held our monthly Organising Forum and a special workshop - Winning the Attention War: How Modern Campaigns Get Noticed, Remembered and Shared - with Kevin Kennedy Ryan of the Labour Graphic Design Network.
Mainstream was proud to participate in the Together Alliance's national demonstration in London on 28th March and we were thrilled that so many of you joined us to stand for unity and against the hate and division of the far right.
Check out our upcoming events here.
At Mainstream, we're determined to generate big, bold ideas and contribute original thinking on all things Labour Party policy, culture and strategy.
We hosted some brilliant content on the Mainstream Blog in March, including:
Want to write for the Mainstream Blog? Submit a pitch.
Mainstream's CLP Organisers Network and Local Groups Network continue to grow and, in March, we saw local activists meeting in Camden, Sunderland and Cheshire.
Transforming Labour in order to transform the country requires us to get organised in every community across the country - and we've got off to a strong start.
Later this year, Mainstream will hold inaugural elections for its Council and you, our members, will be able to stand and vote in these elections.
In the meantime, the Interim Council is working hard to build the organisation, our networks and our reach at this moment of huge opportunity for the Labour Party.
In March, the Interim Council formally co-opted two new members: Paula Barker, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree and a signatory of Mainstream's founding statement, and Paul Fleming, General Secretary of Equity, who is supporting Mainstream in a personal capacity.
We're thrilled to welcome Paula and Paul to the Interim Council, both of whom bring tremendous wisdom and talent that will support Mainstream to thrive.
