Labour Students Political Weekend 2009

Last week Manchester Labour Students joined members from Labour clubs from all around the country to descend on the Forest Pines Hotel & Golf Resort outside Brigg in North Lincolnshire for Labour Students Political Weekend, the first national event of the academic year. Travelling from Manchester meant we didn’t have to wake up at 4.30am like Labour Students from our devolved nations so we arrived ready & raring for a weekend of speakers, policy debates & the legendary Saturday night social.

The weekend kicked off with a welcome from National Chair Joseph Sherry, followed by a session with the quite hilarious Ian Cawsey, the local MP for Brigg and Goole and member of the Parliamentary rock group ‘MP4’. Other speakers on the day included Special Advisor to Gordon Brown, Kirsty McNeill, & Vernon Coaker MP who is currently Minister of State for Schools and Learners at the DCSF. Ellie Reeves fromthe Labour Party National Executive Committee and her sister Rachel Reeves, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Leeds West also spoke to us in a session on their experiences in the Party & then joined our female members at the Women’s Reception. The Women’s Reception was my personal highlight of the weekend as it was great to see a record number of female members at a national event (plus the free wine is always a treat). The Saturday night social kicked off with a quiz (at which Manchester failed abysmally) followed by a three course meal & the legendary disco.


On the Sunday, after an incredible cooked breakfast to aid our recovery from spending the previous night dancing to Things Can Only Get Better, there were sessions on joining a Trade Union, holding our NUS group to account & an introduction to the Cooperative Party from Cooperative Youth Secretary Joseph Russo. Each member also chose a policy group to debate in where we discussed policy ideas for a Labour Fourth Term.

The weekend was a great success & opportunity to meet up with like-minded individuals from universities all around the country & hear speakers who were inspirational in encouraging us to fight in our constituencies for a Labour Fourth Term.