Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in Parliament, i.e. Labour MPs as a collective body.[1] Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes draw a distinction between the Labour Party (which was created outside Parliament and later achieved office) and the Conservative and Liberal parties (which began as parliamentary factions). The term Parliamentary Labour Party refers to the party in Parliament, whereas the term Labour Party refers to the entire Labour Party, the parliamentary element of which is the PLP.
This article is about the UK Parliamentary Labour to Party. For Parliamentary Labour Party in Ireland, see Parliamentary Labour Party (Ireland). For the defunct Australian political party, see Parliamentary Labor Party.
A similar body for the Conservative Party is the 1922 Committee.
An organisation for former members, the PLP in exile, was established after the 2010 general election.[2]
Role[edit]
The PLP holds regular meetings behind closed doors to question the Leader and to discuss its concerns.
Labour MPs elect three of their number to Labour's National Executive Committee.[3]
Originally, the Leader of the Labour Party was elected by the PLP. Now, however, the party operates on a one member, one vote system, where all members are awarded a single vote, as well as affiliated organizations (trade unions and socialist societies) and temporary registered supporters. Instant-runoff voting (the "Alternative Vote") is used to conduct the election. Labour MPs retain the power to trigger an extraordinary or "special" Labour Party Conference to choose a new leader if they lose confidence in their existing leader.[4]
Other roles and groups[edit]
There is also a deputy chair.
Other groups have been established within the PLP, such as the Women's PLP and the LGBT+ PLP.
Labour and Co-operative MPs form part of the PLP, though they also meet (together with Labour Co-op members of the House of Lords) as the Co-operative Parliamentary Group, which has its own chair.