How To Select or Reselect Your MP

41 pages. The pamphlet was created shortly after the UK Labour Party adopted its landmark mandatory reselection process in 1980. It served as a practical manual for local party members on how to hold sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) accountable or replace them. Key features and arguments of the text include: • Accountability: The authors argued that MPs have no special rights over ordinary card-carrying party members. They asserted that mandatory reselection should be used to remind MPs that they are chosen to give practical expression to the party's movement and manifesto, rather than acting as independent agents. • Voting Records: To guide local selection committees, Charlotte Atkins compiled an appendix detailing the legislative voting records of sitting Labour MPs on high-profile parliamentary divisions over the previous six years. This allowed constituency parties to check whether their MP's parliamentary behaviour matched local expectations. (SL#125/20).