LGBT+ Labour to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting after delaying elections for a year

LGBT+ Labour is set to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting next month, alongside its Annual General Meeting where it will elect its committee. This comes after the group controversially delayed its internal elections following the Supreme Court ruling in April 2025.

The claim from the group was that the ruling led to confusion around whether trans women could stand for women's roles within its executive committee, and claimed that legal advice given to them said to postpone their elections.

After the notice of election went out to members, a slate of candidates emerged which sought to unseat the current executive committee. The slate was backed by Labour MP Nadia Whittome and consisted of people including LGBT+ Labour's trans officer Georgia Meadows, and Momentum's Alex Charilaou. Steph Richards was also on the slate as the Women's Officer.

A few days after the slate announced its intention to run candidates, LGBT+ Labour called an emergency meeting for its committee, and decided to 'postpone' the election.

Timeline of key events

• 14th June 2025 - An email goes out to LGBT+ Labour members formally inviting them to attend the Annual General Meeting, and opens nominations for its executive committee.
  
• 6th July 2025 - A strong pro-trans slate of candidates is announced, seeking to unseat the incumbent executive committee with two trans women as candidates for co-chair.
  
• 11th July 2025 - LGBT+ Labour calls an Extraordinary Executive Committee Meeting (essentially an emergency meeting) to take place that same evening with no formal written agenda, and later emails its members informing them that their elections are being delayed, claiming that the legal guidance surrounding the meaning of 'sex' in the Equality Act was "unclear".
  
• 16th July 2025 - An invitation goes out to members for a 'Brunch Social' to take place in central London instead of its Annual General Meeting.
  
• 19th July 2025 - The 'Brunch Social' takes place, with members of the executive turning up late. Dame Nia Griffith confirmed that a ban on conversion practices would be introduced within 'this parliament' (which ended recently, with no ban in sight).

But now, the election is on. Due to the recent haemorrhaging of members from the Labour Party, it is unclear whether there will be a shift in leadership within the group. Some of the slate candidates remain members of the party, but whether they also remain organised is unclear.

A proposal being made by the committee ahead of its meeting next month is to elect members of the committee directly, rather than to specific roles, and then allocate the roles later.

It is clear that the Labour Party went into panic mode in 2025, even cancelling its Women's Conference that September. Rather than committing to legislative changes to ensure trans people are not excluded, the Labour Party opted to sit on its hands and hope for it to blow over.

Whether the upcoming election will be a democratic reseat for LGBT+ Labour, or simply an attempt to contain an internal crisis, remains to be seen. What is clear is that the fallout from the Supreme Court ruling continues to cause significant issues for trans people, and the Labour Party so far has failed to meet the moment.