ACRONYM CRACKER

Initials and jargon terms are useful as a shorthand for those used to them but for people seeing them the first time they can be frustrating. If you have suggestions to add to this list, clarifications, corrections etc. email: walthamstowclp@yahoo.co.uk
  • AFFILIATED ORGANISATION - Full list of organisations affiliated to the Labour Party here (- and then scroll down the page).
  • AGM - Annual General Meeting
  • ALC - Association of Labour Councillors; a Labour Party affiliated organisation which represents Labour councillors of England, Wales and Scotland within the Labour Party. The work of the ALC is governed by executives who are directly elected by Labour councillors from each region.
  • AM - Assembly Member; a Member of the London Assembly. These may represent a London Assembly constituency (Walthamstow lies in the Assembly's North East London constituency, which is made up of the boroughs of Hackney, Islington, and Waltham Forest), or they may be part of the London Wide List, which provides for more proportional representation than a simple 'first past the post' electoral system on its own.
  • AMM - All Member Meeting: a meeting to which all members are invited; in some cases they may have rights to vote as well as attend.
  • AWS - All women shortlist; to encourage full involvement of women at all levels of the party sometimes elections to choose party candidates for public office are restricted to women members.
  • BAME - Black Asian Minority Ethnic; a shorthand for activities, members, supporters or voters drawn from the wide variety of ethnic backgrounds present in the UK, of any shade of skin colour.
  • BLP - Branch Labour Party; constituencies may have a large number of members  so may be organised into branches, each covering 2 or more wards (see wards)
  • BOROUGH - a geographical area administered by a local council (eg the London Borough of Waltham Forest)
  • BRANCH - the basic unit of party organisation. Walthamstow CLP has three branches: East, South and West.
  • CAC - the Conference arrangements committee - primarily to arrange the order of conference agenda
  • CLP - Constituency Labour Party; the Labour Party as it is organised within a particular Parliamentary constituency, such as Walthamstow
  • CONSTITUENCY - a geographical area represented at Westminster by a single MP
  • EC - Executive Committee, eg of the GC; a small group within a body who play a larger role
  • EMD - the local cinema building in Hoe Street, formerly the Granada (not an acronym as the letters are not initials). Now to be reopened as a performing venue with money from the London Borough of Culture fund.
  • GC - the General Committee of the constituency party, which manages how the party is run
  • GLA - The Greater London Authority. Its staff are appointed by the Head of Paid Service, the GLA’s most senior official, and serve both the Mayor and the London Assembly.
  • GOTV - 'get out the vote', ie doorknocking, leafleting, phone calls on polling day to encourage our supporters to go to the polling station and vote
  • GROUP - The group of Labour Councillors on the borough Council
  • LAM - London Assembly Member (see GLA above)
  • LBWF - the London Borough of Waltham Forest
  • LCF - Local Campaign Forum - works across the borough (of Waltham Forest) to organise campaigning for local council elections
  • LGBT - Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender (or transexual or trans); Labour has always lead the way for political parties to recognise and include the widest range of social groupings, particularly in respect of gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity (see also BAME and AWS)
  • LGC - Local Government Committee (no longer in use locally - in most constituencies and boroughs this has been replaced by a smaller LCF which plays a similar role)
  • LONG CAMPAIGN - the period (usually 4 months) prescribed by electoral law before a parliamentary election during which parties have to keep their campaign spending - including publicity - within certain legal limits. The last 6 weeks are the 'short campaign' with even closer control.
  • LP - the Labour Party; a political party registered under PPERA
  • MEP - an elected representative at the European Parliament, representing a Euro constituency. (these are larger areas than so-called Westminster constituencies - see 'MP' below)
  • MOTION - a proposal to support or change something which is put to a meeting for the participants to vote for or against. If the motion is carried it becomes a RESOLUTION of the body which organised the meeting. (The resolution can itself be submitted to another body as a motion for it to debate).
  • MP - an elected representative at the Westminster Parliament, representing a constituency such as Walthamstow
  • NCC - the National Constitutional Committee - primarily for disciplinary matters
  • NEC - the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party - the ultimate authority within the party nationally
  • NPF - National Policy Forum of the Labour Party - where delegates from across the whole national party deliberate on policy issues
  • OMOV - one member one vote, a ballot where every party member has a vote and there are no delegate or block votes
  • PLP - Parliamentary Labour Party; the group of Labour MPs in parliament.
  • PPC - Prospective Parliamentary Candidate; formally adopted to be the party's candidate at the next parliamentary election. Party rules require sitting MPs to submit themselves for a so-called 'trigger ballot' of the CLP for adoption as PPC for the next election.
  • PPERA - the Political parties, elections and referendum act; a piece of legislation passed by Parliament in 2001, to regulate the spending of political parties and campaign organisations during elections.
  • REGION - Frequently used shorthand for the London Regional Labour Party; covers the Greater London electoral region. Nationally Region means the various regions of organisation of the party; in addition to London, the party regions are: Scottish, Welsh, Northern Ireland, Eastern, East Midlands, West Midlands, South East, Yorkshire and Humber, North, North West, and South West.
  • RESOLUTION - see MOTION.
  • SHORT CAMPAIGN - the period immediately before an election prescribed under electoral law during which parties have to keep their campaign spending within certain legal limits. See also 'long campaign'.
  • TULO - Trade Union Liaison Officer; a member linking the CLP with local trade union branches
  • UCKG - The United Church of the Kingdom of God - the former owners of the EMD cinema
  • WARD - an area in a borough represented on the local council one or more councillors (usually 3). Local Labour Parties may be organised by ward or branch

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