Policy in the Labour Party is made through a process called Partnership into Power (PiP) which is designed to involve all party stakeholders (including members, local parties, trade unions, socialist societies and Labour’s elected representatives) as well as the wider community in shaping party policy.

Introduced in 1997, PiP has since proved to be a huge success.  It has led to the production of two general election winning manifestos; provided a model to facilitate policy development at all levels of governance; and provided a framework for the partnership between the Labour government or opposition frontbench and the wider party.

With PiP, more members have been involved in discussing and debating party policy than was ever the case before 1997, and the engagement between the leadership and party members has been far greater.  The last cycle of Partnership into Power saw us receive thousands of submissions from local parties, affiliates and community groups with many thousands of party members taking part. We also took our debate out to the wider community both through the consultation documents and through the development of public consultation events.

PiP supports the campaigning work of local Labour parties and representatives providing an avenue to discuss policy issues and broaden local networks. And because PiP develops policy over the course of a Parliament and has discussion and debate at its heart, it has proved to be a good vehicle for developing party members’ political knowledge.

These pages explain how policy is made in the party though Partnership into Power, describe the institutions that drive the process and show how all party stakeholders can best engage on the party’s policy development work.

Find out more by clicking on the links below:

Policy development cycle     
Policy in the Labour Party is made on a rolling cycle designed to recognise that every party member should have a role in our policy making processes. Read more here.

PiP institutions
Details of the role of Annual Conference, the National Policy Forum, Policy Commissions and the Joint Policy Committee in the policy making process.

Policy commissions
In this section you can read about our six policy commissions, which consider policy submissions from all sections of the party and have a responsibility to ensure engagement on topical issues as well as building and maintaining year-round dialogue between the Party and Shadow Cabinet.

PiP Reform
Since 1997, Partnership into Power has ensured more members have been involved in discussing and debating party policy than was ever the case before. However the system is not perfect. We are consulting on how we can improve our policy making process – Party members can find details on how to participate here.

Having your say
We consult all members in policy development because we recognise that we stay relevant as a political party through our connections to, and involvement in, our local communities.  All members, local parties and affiliates as well as other party stakeholders have the right to a direct say in the party's political development.  Find out how you can get involved here.