Momentum is a British left-wing political organisation which has been described as a grassroots movement supportive of the Labour Party; since January 2017, all Momentum members must be (or become) members of the party. It was founded in 2015 by Jon Lansman, Adam Klug, Emma Rees and James Schneider after Jeremy Corbyn's successful campaign to become Labour Party leader and it was reported to have between 20,000 and 30,000 members in 2021.
The organisation has polarised Labour politicians and journalists since it was founded. Momentum has been compared to the Labour Party's Militant tendency. The organisation originally set up – and maintains close ties with – The World Transformed.
Stated aims and principles
Since its inception, Momentum has stated its core objective as "to create a mass movement for real progressive change". In their 2021 strategy document "Socialist Organising in a New Era", published on their website, Momentum has three strategic priorities: Elect socialists and win the radical policies the current moment demands Support struggles in our communities and workplaces Scale up political education in our movement and across the country
Momentum has campaigned for the Labour Party to adopt certain pledges in its party manifesto. In 2019 it campaigned for the inclusion of a Green New Deal and a four-day workweek.
Structure Momentum is not a member-controlled unincorporated association — like the Labour Party, for exampleAathelstane Aamodt, "Unincorporated associations and elections", Local Government Lawyer, 17 September 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2014. — but a private company. According to Companies House, the current officers of Momentum Campaign (Services) Ltd are solicitor Anthony Kearns (since 2019) and co-chairs Andrew Scattergood and Gaya Sriskanthan (since 2021). Momentum originally had a delegate system for an executive board, known as the steering committee. In late October 2016, the steering committee voted to adopt one member, one vote (OMOV) for a digital instead of the delegate system; the decision, however, was controversial and did not survive a general vote. A new constitution, including OMOV, was announced on 11 January 2017. New Momentum members were required to be members of the Labour Party, with existing Momentum members required to join the party by July of that year. Lansman initiated changes via email. After persuading the steering committee, he replaced the national committee with a Labour-only national coordinating group (NCG). A new online model of organisation without a regional structure was created to prevent far-left entryists dominating delegate meetings.
After a January 2017 Momentum survey with a response rate of over 40 per cent, the organisation's steering committee voted to introduce a new constitution. Lansman resigned as a director on 12 January 2017 (replaced by Christine Shawcroft) to stand for election to the steering committee. Momentum introduced its new constitutional structure in early March; the new NCG met on 11 March and a conference was held on 25 March, both in Birmingham. In 2020, the newly elected NCG began a process of "refounding Momentum". This was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the process of members re-writing the constitution was begun in 2021.
Membership
In 2015the year it was foundedMomentum had 60,000 supporters (who paid no fees) and 50 local groups. By September 2017, it had 31,000 members in 170 local groups and a staff of 15. In January 2018, the group had 35,000 members. By April of that year, Momentum had 40,000 members. According to the organisation, 95 per cent of its funding comes from membership fees and small donations; the average fee is £3 per year. In July 2018, it was reported that Momentum had 42,000 members: 92 per cent (38,700) in England, four per cent (2,000) in Wales, and three per cent (1,300) in Scotland. Its membership base has been seen as falling into two types: young activists who joined the Labour Party during (and after) Corbyn's first leadership election in 2015, and older, left-wing veterans of the Labour Party and the far left.
In 2021, it was reported by the i paper that Momentum had between 20,000 and 30,000 members and remains the largest campaign group connected to the Labour Party. In late 2022, the Guardian reported that membership was down by one third from the peak, causing financial difficulties, and by early 2024 the Morning Star reported that membership had fallen to just over 10,000.
Relationship with other UK organisations Momentum maintains close ties with the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance, a coalition of left-wing groups in the Labour Party who nominate joint candidates for the National Executive Committee and other internal elected positions. In 2016, the Scottish left-wing Campaign for Socialism (CfS) formed a partnership with Momentum; although they remain separate organisations, they share membership and resources. CfS membership increased from 400 in 2015 to 1,418 by 2019. The left-wing Welsh Labour Grassroots has similar links to Momentum.
A few trade unions which are affiliated to the Labour Party have also affiliated to Momentum, providing some financial support. This includes the Communication Workers Union, Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union and the Fire Brigades Union. There has been regular speculation in the media that Unite the Union would affiliate to Momentum also, but the idea has been rejected by the union- they have however collaborated strategically.
National Coordinating Group In the first election (in 2018), eight Members' Representatives were elected: four for London and the South East; two for the Midlands, the East, the West and Wales; two for the North, Scotland and International; and four public-office holders. Thirty-four per cent of the membership (7,500) voted. Additional elections were held in April of that year for four positions in each of the four regional coordinating offices, and over 13,000 votes (35 per cent of the eligible membership) were cast.
For the second NCG election, in 2020, Momentum's represented geographic regions expanded from four to five. Two slates were nominated for all the positions: Momentum Renewal and Forward Momentum. Both were endorsed by left-wing figures, journalists and politicians, and their ideology had some overlap. Sam Bright of Byline Times wrote, "Both want to reform the democratic structures of the organisation; both want to see more devolution of powers to local groups; both want to defend the radical policies of the Corbyn era". The Momentum Renewal slate emphasised community trade-union organisation. Forward Momentum intended to further democratise Momentum, advocating greater democracy in the Labour Party and the use of open primaries for internal elections. Forward Momentum candidates won in all regions except for public-office holders.
In 2022, the third election took place. Two slates of candidates have emerged from this election "Your Momentum" and "Momentum Organisers". The outcome of the election was that the Momentum Organisers slate won 15 seats, whilst Your Momentum won 14 seats. 3,380 votes were cast.
Background
Momentum was founded in 2015 by Jon Lansman and fellow national organisers Adam Klug, Emma Rees and James Schneider, four weeks after Jeremy Corbyn's successful campaign for the Labour Party leadership. Local groups formed to support Corbyn's leadership, uniting several factions of the left across Britain. Lansman was active in Tony Benn's 1981 deputy leadership bid and, after volunteering for Corbyn's leadership bid, had become the director of Jeremy Corbyn Campaign 2015 (Supporters) Ltd, which held the data collected during the campaign. In addition to their support of Corbyn, Momentum has three primary goals: to win elections for Labour, to create a socialist Labour government, and to help build a broader social movement. Corbyn was positive about Momentum after it was formed, saying in 2016: "I see Momentum as a social movement. A movement that will campaign on all of these issues. But above all, excite and unite people to come together, to come together to challenge injustice, inequality and social exclusion. Bring people together to achieve things together. That is what is makes us [Labour] so different from every other political party in this country."
When it was formed, Momentum wanted to focus on local and Labour Party issues. It was inspired by Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain, both of which used pragmatic, grassroots organising to counter the effects of fiscal austerity. The movement has also benefited from ideas by other campaigns operating on a left-wing or progressive platform, such as Bernie Sanders' campaigns to become a presidential candidate for the Democratic party in 2016 and 2020 and Beto O'Rourke's campaign to become a Democratic Senator in Texas.
International relationships Momentum has formed ties with other political organisations across North America and Europe. They have collaborated with the Canadian Leap movement, the Young Socialists in the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Democratic Socialists of America in the United States and similar organisations in Greece. In 2018, Rees and Klug made a ten-week lecture tour of the United States to educate progressive activists and members of the National Nurses United union on political campaigning techniques and to advise Real Justice.
Early infiltration from the far left
Members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) had raised concerns that parties on the far left of British politics, including the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, Left Unity, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), the Socialist Party and the Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL), might join Momentum to influence the Labour Party. Momentum was indeed mired by members of these groups and the disruption they caused in its organisation. An example was Jill Mountford, a longtime member of AWL who was accused of bullying with Momentum. The groups considered disbanding and supporting Momentum; in 2015, Left Unity members unsuccessfully proposed a merge with the organisation several times.
The movement has been compared to the Militant tendency, a Trotskyist group which was expelled by Labour under Neil Kinnock during the 1980s. Labour MP Owen Smith accused Momentum of using Militant-tendency tactics such as threatening to deselect Labour MPs, a concern echoed by former deputy Labour leader Roy Hattersley. Oliver Kamm of The Times wrote in October 2015, "Like the Trotskyists of a generation ago Momentum is an entrist organisation that's parasitic on the Labour host. This time, though, the far left has managed to gain control of the party structures and is intent on making life tough for Labour MPs". A Labour councillor in Liverpool in 2019 said about Momentum's presence in the city, "I think Momentum in Liverpool is a mask for Militant. There are decent Momentum people and then there are the others who have their own agenda".