Affiliated Trade Unions

The Party was created by the trade unions and Socialist Societies in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee . Since then, the unions have retained close institutional links with the Party, although these arrangements have been strained significantly in recent years, with the RMT and FBU severing their links.

''Affiliation'' means that the unions pay an affiliation fee to the Labour Party; in return, they and their members receive the privileges of affiliated membership. Unions select twelve of the thirty-two members of the Labour National Executive Committee and elect fifty per cent of the delegates to Labour Party Conference . In many cases, local union branches also affiliate to Constituency Labour Parties and their members who are also individual members of the Party may represent the Union as delegates on Labour Party structures.

Members of the unions may ''opt out'' of the affiliation, so that the member is not allowed to take part in any Labour Party ballots (such as the leadership election) in which other members of the affiliated union are involved.

AFFILIATED UNIONS

As of September 2005 , the trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party are: