LSESU Labour Society

Constitution

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 Contents
Article I - Aims & Objectives

Article II - Members

Article III - Executive Committee

Article IV - The Committee

Article V - Elections

Article VI - Annual General Meetings

Article VII - Referendums

Article VIII - Resignations & Motions of No Confidence

Article IX - Endorsements

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 The LSESU Labour Society is bound by the Activities Bye-laws of the LSE Students’ Union

Article I - Aims & Objectives

1. To promote the values and policies of the Labour Party

2. To involve and promote the views of society members nationally through official
Labour Youth divisions
3. To aid the elections of Labour Party candidates across the country at all levels
4. To host tolerant and inclusive events with a wide range of topics to satisfy section 1
&2

Article II - Members

1. Membership is open to all students of the LSE

2. Associate membership may be offered to non-Union members.
3. Associate membership can only be offered after being approved by the Activities
Committee of the Union.
4. Associate members of the society may not stand or vote in society elections.

Article III - Executive Committee

The Society shall have an Executive committee who shall have additional powers
granted by the Constitution and Students Union. The society shall have a:

1. President/Chair, who shall;

a) Lead the committee
b) Chair all society meetings
c) Oversee and be responsible for all members and actions taken by the
committee as a whole.
d) Have access to all Social Media Accounts
e) All committee members will serve at the will of the President

2. Secretary, who shall;

a) Convene all society meetings
b) Take minutes of all meetings/AGMs
c) Lead the society’s communications. Have access to all Social Media Accounts.
d) The secretary is the only person allowed to be registered as Secretary with the
Students Union (SU)

3. Treasurer, who shall;

a) Administer and keep a record of all finances of the society
b) Authorise all society spending
c) The Treasurer is the only person allowed to be registered as Treasurer with the
(SU)

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4. The society shall have 2 Vice Presidents who shall sit on the Executive Committee.
a) Vice President Campaigns (VPC), who shall;
i. Lead campaigns on and off campus
ii. Liaise with official Labour Youth wings on campaigns
iii. Articulate the views of members with the committee
iv. The VPC may not lead campaigns without the expressed approval of the
President
b) Vice President Events (VPE)
i. Organise all events approved by the committee
ii. Assist to as much or as little as the President may require on the
administrative tasks to host an event
iii. The VPE may not create or host events without the expressed approval of
the President

Article IV - The Committee

1. The committee will be made up of the Executive committee and a Sub-Committee

(together known as the Committee) comprised of 4 Liberation Officers and 4 members
of no fixed brief.

2. Liberation Officers
a) Women’s Officer, who shall;
i. Be a self-defining woman
ii. Encourage women to join and become active within the society and the Labour
Party
iii. Encourage and support all self-defining female society members at LSE
iv. Organise and host at least one event per year
v. Support the VPC in promoting female campaigns
vi. Support the VPE in promoting female targeted events
b) BAME Officer, who shall;
i. Be a self-defining Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic person
ii. Encourage BAME people to join and become active within the society and the
Labour Party
iii. Encourage and support all self-defining BAME society members at LSE
iii. Organise and host at least one event per year
iv. Support the VPC in promoting BAME campaigns
v. Support the VPE in promoting BAME targeted events
d) LGBT Officer, who shall;
i. Be a self-defining member of the LGBT community
ii. Encourage LGBT people to join and become active within the society and the
Labour Party
iii. Encourage and support all self-defining LGBT society members at LSE
iv. Organise and host at least one event per year
v. Support the VPC in promoting LGBT campaigns
vi. Support the VPE in promoting LGBT targeted events
d) Disability Officer, who shall;
i. Self-define as disabled.
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 ii. Encourage disabled people to join and become active within the society and
the Labour Party
iii. Encourage and support all self-defining disabled society members at LSE
iv. Organise and host at least one event per year
v. Support the VPC in promoting disabled campaigns
vi. Support the VPE in promoting disabled targeted events

3. Committee Members of no Fixed Brief

a) The society shall have a further 4 committee members
b) All 4 positions must be gender balanced. If not possible the President has
the power to accept unbalanced candidates, or postpone the election
c) These members shall represent the views of the society not already covered
by the Executive Committee or the Liberation Officers.
d) Each member should be given to another member of the executive
committee to assist and or given specific tasks

5. Committee meetings
a) The entire committee shall meet regularly at the discretion of the President
b) The executive committee may also meet outside of regular committee
meetings, but are not required to do so
c) All minutes made by the Secretary must be made available to the members
within a week.
d) Votes called by the president are advisory only, they are not binding. The
President has the final say

Article V - Elections

1. Calling Elections
a) The elections of the Executive committee will be within the first 3 weeks of
the Lent Term at the Society’s AGM.
b) The Liberation Officers and Committee Members shall be elected in
Michaelmas term election during the first 3 weeks of MT.
c) The exact date of the election is at the discretion of the President.
d) Members must be given 48 hour notice of any Election called by both Email
and through at least one form of Social Media
2. All elections are to be run by the Returning Officer who shall be either the President
or the Secretary. In the event of one of them running in any election, the other must
run that position’s election. If the SU or Labour Students wish to carry out any
election or observe they will be allowed to do so and not be impeded upon.
3. Eligibility of Candidates and voters
a) Executive committee candidates can only be eligible if they are members of
both the society and of the Labour Party at least 1 week before the election.
b) Any other position requires the candidates to be members of the society at
the time of their election.
c) Voters must be members of the society 24hr before the election
d) Any member wishing to run for a committee position must state their
intention when the returning officer asks if anyone wishes to run for the
position.
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 e) Quoracy (20% of the Society’s membership) must be present for an election
to be valid. If this is not met the meeting should be postponed and
rearranged in consultation with the Activities and Development Officer.
4. The elections of each position shall go in the order they appear in the Constitution.
5. All elections where there are two or more candidates, each candidate must give a 1
minute speech, apart from the election of the President where candidates must give
a 2 minute speech. Refusal to give a speech will result in their name being
withdrawn from the Ballot
6. Elections for every position require a ‘Re-Open Nominations’ (RON) option.
7. Speeches will be followed by a series of questions. The questions will last as long
as the Returning Officer deems fit but must be equal for all candidates.
8. Voting and Counting
a) All elections must be run by a secret ballot if there are two or more
candidates. Public ballots are prohibited
b) Completed Ballot papers must only be collected by members of the
executive committee, unless they are running for the position they are
collecting ballots for.
c) Voters will rank the candidates under the Alternative Vote system.
d) The election for the 4 committee positions shall be done as a block under
the same system.
e) Elections for all Liberation positions must be done in private and voted on by
self-defining members of the same caucus.
f) Counting of Ballot papers must be done by the Returning Officer. The
Returning Officer may appoint additional counters and does not have to
count themselves; however they must be present for all counts.
g) Anybody (including candidates) can witness this process if they wish but are
not allowed to return to where the election is taking place until the
announcement has been made. The use of any communication devices
during the count is prohibited. The returning officer has the right to
temporarily remove the device from any witness.
h) In the event of a tie, a re-count will be held. If the result is still a tie then
result should be reported to the Activities and Development Officer who will
make a decision in consultation with the candidates.
i) If at any point anybody present believes that the Returning Officer is not
acting in accordance to the Constitution they may raise this by standing and
saying “Point of Order”. They may do this at any moment unless candidates
are speaking. At any other time the Returning Officer must not silence
anybody from expressing a Point of Order.
10. If there is only one candidate they are not required to make a speech, but are
required to answer questions. This may be only done with the approval of both the
Returning Officer and the candidate.
11. The candidates may not be present in the room where ballots are being cast.
Ballots may only be handed out once the candidates have left the room.
12. The Returning Officer will announce the results of each election to the candidates
privately. No other member of the society is allowed to witness.
13. The result shall be announced to the society by the Returning Officer or President if
they are not the Returning Officer.

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14. Should a candidate not be able to attend the election they may submit a speech to
be read by the Returning Officer on their behalf, but are not allowed to vote.
15. Disputes surrounding the integrity of the election should be directed to the Activities
and Development Officer.

Article VI - Annual General Meetings (AGMs)

1. An AGM must be called every year

2. All Executive committee members must give a report on their work in the Society.
This does not have to be in the form of a speech.
3. AGM’s may also be used for:
a) Holding Executive Committee elections
b) Referendums

Article VII- Referendums

1. Referendums may be used for:

a) Constitutional amendments
b) If the President wishes to poll the views of members (i.e to decide on a
campaign to focus on)
2. Referendums can be called at any time
3. Referendums must be held under the same conditions as any election
4. Votes will be cast under a secret ballot and do not have to be counted under the AV
system.
5. The President decides on the format of the referendum.
6. Quoracy is 20% of the Society’s membership. If this is not met the meeting should
be postponed and rearranged in consultation with the Activities and Development
Officer.
7. Amendments to the Constitution:
a) Amendments to Constitution must be proposed to the President signed and in
writing.
b) The exact wording of the proposal shall then be submitted to the committee for
approval. The committee may alter the wording of the amendment in
conjunction with the proposer.
c) If approval is met, the amendment is to be voted on by members at the AGM or
through a referendum (20% Quoracy still applies).
d) Amendments are passed if they receive a majority of votes by all present
members and new constitutions must be passed by a two thirds majority of all
present members
e) A new Constitution or Constitutional Amendment must then be submitted to the
Activities Committee for approval.
f) All amendments must be titled Amendment and inputed into the relevant article
8. If there is an election as a delegate to any Young Labour event the election may be
carried out entirely over email or messenger. Votes may be put to either the
membership or the committee, the format of which is up to the discretion of the
President.
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Article VIII - Resignations & Motions of No Confidence

1. Resignations
a) Committee members may resign at any time.
b) Resignations must be submitted in writing and signed to the President.
c) Their signed resignation statement must then be sent to all members by email
d) The President may then appoint a member of the sub committee to discharge
the duties of a resigned member until an election or by-election is called
e) Any unfilled position must be filled with an election within a month under the
same rules as that position was elected under.
2. Any member of the society has the right to call a vote of no confidence and may do
so in writing. The motion must be seconded by another member, both the proposer
and seconder must sign the motion. If there is an accusation that a committee
member has contravened the Constitution, the exact Article and Section should be
cited in their statement.
3. Procedure for a Motion of No Confidence
a) The motion must then be submitted to the President (or Secretary if the motion
regards the President).
b) The full membership and the Activities & Development Officer must be
informed of a Motion of No-Confidence 48 hours before the meeting at which it
is voted on.
c) Motions of No-Confidence must be voted on by committee members within 5
days of submission. The Proposer has 4 days wherein they may withdraw the
motion.
d) For a Motion of No-Confidence to be carried it must receive the votes from two
thirds of the present committee.
e) To vote on a Motion of No-Confidence there must be at least 10 committee
members. If this is not met the meeting should be postponed and rearranged in
consultation with the Activities and Development Officer.

Article IX - Endorsements

1. Endorsements for any election are to made by the committee alone unless the
President wishes to call a referendum.
2. Endorsements made by the President without consultation of the committee are
prohibited.
3. Endorsement Meetings
a) Are open for all members to witness. Anybody not a member cannot witness
the meeting unless they are given permission by the Activities Development
Officer
b) All candidates must be invited to an Endorsement meeting. Failure to invite all
candidates will result in the meeting being void

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