CLP Roles & Responsibilities

A brief guide for our members

Folkestone and Hythe Constituency Labour party (CLP) is ultimately managed by our members who elect officers to administer and organise the work of our CLP.  Additional co-ordinator roles are developed, depending on current issues or needs.

These post holders form the CLP Executive Committee which puts into effect the decisions of members, co- ordinate local action and report back to all members.

Most officer positions can be shared by a maximum of two members – this excludes the posts of Chair and Treasurer due to the statutory responsibilities of these roles. 

Our current postholders are listed on the Officers and Co-ordinators page.

We are bound by the Labour Party rulebook, which can be found and viewed here
Our local party standing orders, adopted in December 2021 can be found and viewed here

CLP Officers and their roles

(click on the role title to follow links provided to national Labour Party guidance)

Chair 
Facilitates meetings, monitors decisions and workload, ensuring the local party operates fairly and openly by ensuring everyone is listened to and has their say.

Secretary 
Acts as the key contact in the local party who organises and ensures everything gets done.

Treasurer 
Takes charge of the local party’s finances, and helps the local party build the financial resources to run effective campaigns by setting budgets and fundraising targets.

Vice-Chair 
Stands in when the Chair is not available and helps the other officers make sure everything gets done.

Vice-Chair (Membership) 
Leads on engagement and retention ensuring the local  party grows, and members feel valued, are up to date on how they can get involved and get as much as they can out of their membership.

Policy Officer 
Leads policy making process and encourages members to help develop Labour Party policy.

Women’s Officer 
Represents women members and ensures the local party engages with women voters.

BAME Officer 
Represents BAME members and ensures the local party engages with Black Asian and Ethnic Minority voters.

Disability Officer 
Represents disabled members and ensures the local party engages with disabled voters.

LGBT+ Officer 
Represents LGBT members and ensures the local party engages with LGBT voters.

Youth Officer 
Represents young members and makes sure the local party engages with young voters.

Trade Union Liaison Officer 
Maintains and strengthens links between affiliated trade unions and the local party.

Political Education Officer 
Organises and facilitates regular political education events and discussions.

Communications and Social Media Officer 
Works to provide a proactive communications strategy, and increase the local party’s profile and campaigns in local press and broadcast media (Communcations). Co-ordinates a presence online and helps run integrated campaigns using digital channels alongside more traditional methods (Social Media).

Co-ordinators

Campaign Co-ordinator 
Leads on the planning and delivery of constituency based campaigning – elected by the Campaign Committee.

Fundraising Co-ordinator 
Ensures the local party has the funds to meet its financial commitments and supports campaigning.

Auditor 
Two auditors are elected to oversee and validate the CLP accounts.

Election agent 
Liaises with other agents within the local authority area in order to ensure a unified and co-ordinated campaign – appointed by the Campaign Committee.

District Council Group Leader 
Assisting with liaison with the District Council Labour Group.

Town Council Group Leader 
Assisting with liaison with the Town Council Labour Group.

Branch positions

Each branch elects an executive, including a Branch Chair and a Branch Secretary. 
These roles support organising branch events for local members and liaison with the CLP executive.