Chris Wongsosaputro, ESEA for Labour Conference Delegate, 2024
This year marked the second year for me to be an ESEA Labour delegate. It was also a special year for me as it was my first time living under a Labour government in my 13 years in the UK!
The highlights for me were the speeches from our Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor and (formerly Shadow) Cabinet Members. All of their speeches had set out a positive vision for the country to deliver economic growth and investment after 14 years of Tory government. They mentioned about tough decisions needing to be made now to repair the damage left behind by the Conservatives and deliver the change set out in Labour’s General Election manifesto. It was heartening to hear Keir speaking about the changes Labour had implemented in the two months post-GE, ranging from housing planning reforms to the Great British Energy.
Debating motions
The Conference business itself started with a vote for Constitutional Amendments submitted by the NEC and CLPs. The NEC amendments relate to Party Conference, selection procedures, regional and local governance and membership rates while the CLP ones relate to selection procedures and NEC composition. The Conference delegates passed the NEC amendments.
Over the next 3 days, Conference delegates debated 12 motions on a wide-ranging set of topics including Health, Crime, Opportunity and Clean Energy Missions. I managed to contribute to the debates by speaking in favour of Labour’s Growth Mission as one of the missions for our Labour government to focus on. The delegates passed all the debated motions.
Outside the Conference floor
Outside of the Conference debates, I was also at the ESEA Labour stall promoting our society and selling our chibis featuring our PM, DPM, Chancellor and 5 other Cabinet Ministers. There was a great reception towards ESEA Labour as we had quite a few new joiners and chibi purchases.
ESEA Labour organised our dinner on the penultimate day of Conference at the Man Tsuen Ho’s Restaurant where we sang karaoke songs after eating.
This has been a memorable Conference and I can’t wait to see further changes from our Labour government. Onto another year before the next Conference!
Chris is the Treasurer for East and South East Asians for Labour, as well as the Socialist Societies. He is passionate about Labour Party politics and was the Labour Parliamentary Candidate in Torbay for the 2024 General Election.
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