Young Fabians
ChairJames Potts
Vice ChairAmy Dwyer
TreasurerEllie Anderson
SecretaryHollie Wickens
Editor of AnticipationsJimmy Sergi
Founded1960 (1960)
HeadquartersFabian Society, 61 Petty France, Westminster, London SW1H 9EU
Membership2,000
TypeThink tank
PurposeThe under-31s section of the Fabian Society
Website
www.youngfabians.org.uk

The Young Fabians is the under age 31 section of the Fabian Society,[1] a socialist society in the United Kingdom that is affiliated with the Labour Party (UK). The Young Fabians operate as a membership-driven think tank that organises policy debates, research projects, publications, conferences, and international delegations. The organisation holds no collective position on policy.

History

The Fabian Society was founded by a group of young idealists in the late 19th century.[2] For example, H. G. Wells was 27 when he joined the committee as was George Bernard Shaw. However, by the middle of the 20th century, the average age of active members was relatively elderly. In order to encourage more young people to join the society, a Young Fabian Group was proposed.

The Young Fabian Group for members of the Fabian society 30 years of age or younger was officially convened in May 1960 at a meeting organised by Fabian Society assistant General Secretary, Richard Leonard.

From small beginnings, the Young Fabians produced a steady stream of pamphlets through the 1960s and 1970s, and produced some 50 by 1980.[3]

Tony Blair at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 29 January 2009

The Young Fabians became less prominent during the 1980s while the Labour Party re-organised its youth wing, partly based on a template set out in a Young Fabian pamphlet. However, in the early 1990s, the group underwent a revival and played an important role in the discussion of the next stage of modernisation within the Labour Party. In 1994, members of the Young Fabians were part of the campaign to elect Tony Blair leader of the party and then the campaign to change Clause IV, although the group itself took no formal position on these issues.

In recent years, several controversial pamphlets have been produced including "Students as Citizens" which advocated granting more choice to university students and "The Case for Socialism" which set out the socialist themes and actions of the Government of Tony Blair. In 2014, pamphlet number 63 "One Nation" was launched, which examined Ed Miliband's vision for Britain. The most recent pamphlet, number 65 "Closing the Gap", explores how the Labour Party can remould the NHS to ensure it is fit to face the new challenges of an ageing population.

The Group's quarterly magazine Anticipations, named after the title of an essay by H. G. Wells, was founded in 1996. It was originally edited by Liam Byrne, Tom Happold, Mark Leonard and Emma Beswick.

Until 2015, the organisation's activities were run directly by its executive committee, which undertook a programme of speaker events, seminars, receptions and policy pamphlets. This was changed fundamentally with the adoption of a new constitution in 2015 after a campaign led by A. Adranghi and Martin Edobor with the document drafted by A. Adranghi and Luke John Davies. Since then, the focus of running programmes have been devolved to members through member-led networks centered around topics related to core issues like International Affairs, Health and Education. The steering groups of each network are elected annually by the membership at a special Network AGM at the start of each calendar year.

The Young Fabians are currently affiliated as a full member of the Young European Socialists (YES).[4]

Political position

The Young Fabians' statement of purpose is to avoid commitment to any one brand of socialism and to provide a "forum for different points of view within the left".

Unlike other youth socialist groups, the Young Fabians has maintained this position of neutrality on policy issues, upholding the Fabian Society's principle that its role is merely to determine whether a matter or position is suitable for discussion, not to take a group position on an issue. This has helped the group survive through many changes in the Labour Party without being identified as part of the left or right wing factions.

Along with the Fabian Society, the Young Fabians is affiliated with the Labour Party. The group officially maintain a policy of neutrality with decisions internal the Labour Party such as internal elections. The group has the right to appoint one member to the executive committee of Young Labour.

Full members of the group must not be members of political parties that oppose Labour. A significant minority of members do not hold membership of the Labour Party. Members of other political parties are able to join the group as associate members.

The importance of the Young Fabians

Former Young Fabian Chairs James Hallwood and Martin Edobor at Fabian Society Summer Conference 2015

The book The Modernisers' Dilemma cites the Young Fabians as one of the most important groups within the Labour Party. As an organised network of younger, generally well-educated party members, often researchers or academics, the Young Fabians is one of the main social and informal networks through which political activity is carried out. However, by taking no formal policy stance, the Young Fabians has been able to include both supporters and sceptics of past Labour governments.

The Young Fabians also fills the gap between student politics and mainstream Labour Party politics, a gap which is filled in the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Party structures by having youth wings which include graduates up to the age of 30.

Young Fabian alumni

Young Fabian alumni have played significant roles in British public life, with many entering the British parliament and holding offices of state. Young Fabian alumni include Professor Colin Crouch,[5] Brian Lapping, Howard Glennerster, Giles Radice, Conrad Russell, Michael Crick, Peter Mandelson, Jack Straw, Stephen Twigg, Ann Taylor, Vince Cable[6] John Mann, Phil Woolas, Oona King, Lorna Fitzsimons, Paul Richards, Tom Watson, Liam Byrne, Stella Creasy, Seema Malhotra, Sunder Katwala, Mark Leonard, Jessica Asato, Conor McGinn, Sara Ibrahim and Keir Mather.

The Young Fabians today

In recent years, the Young Fabians has seen a surge in membership, which had grown to more than 2,000 members as of 2017 from around 1,400 in 2014.[7] It regularly holds a series of events including policy seminars, debates and receptions in foreign embassies, and publishes magazine 'Anticipations' which moved to being quarterly to twice-yearly in 2020.[8]

The Young Fabians are distinct from other youth movements in their focus on ideas and policy. Like the Fabian Society, the Young Fabians promote the discussion and dissemination of ideas to help shape Labour Party policy. It holds its annual AGM every November alongside the main Fabian Society AGM. It also holds regular social events, with its annual summer boat party on the Thames having become a popular fixture in the Westminster calendar for young members and activists.

While primarily a research based organisation, the Young Fabians also held a series of campaign day events for members across the UK during the 2017 general election, including in Reading, Oxford, Wolverhampton and Birmingham as well as London, and have run a number of international campaigning trips. Recent campaigning visits include going to Florida for the 2016 presidential election and to Sweden for their 2014 general election.

Under the auspices of the Young Fabians International Network, Young Fabian research trips have also been conducted in recent years to China (2015), Brussels (2015), Sweden (2015), Israel and Palestine (2015 and 2016) and the United States (2016). It has also held a number of delegations to Europe with the Young European Socialists.[9]

In March 2020, the Young Fabians moved to holding all of its events and activities online during the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] At their November 2020 AGM the Young Fabians voted to change the way they vote for their executive committee from the block vote system to single transferable vote, and to add Women's Officer and National Coordinator roles to their constitutional roles. They later changed their voting system back to block vote the following year.[11]

The Young Fabians Networks

Young Fabians International Network at the Riksdag.

In 2010, the Young Fabians launched two special interest groups focused on finance and science industries. These networks set out to bring together those involved or who have an interest in the subject, and link their specialist knowledge into policy debate. In 2011 a Health Network was launched. In 2013 saw the brief existence of Foreign Policy and Creative Industry networks, and in 2014 a Local Government Network was intended to open. 2015 saw the largest expansion of networks with the founding of Education, International and Communications networks, followed by further addition of the Law and Technology networks in 2016.

Each network is run by a steering committee who manage their own annual programme, and since 2012 the networks have elected their own Chairs and other officers.

Young Fabian Executives

The Executives of the Young Fabians are elected in the run up to the November AGM and hold office for one year. Recent Executives and Chairs have included:

Young Fabian Chairs
Year Chair
1960Stephen Hatch
1960–1961Hilary Chantler
1961–1962Rex Winsbury
1962–1963Richard Bone
1963–1964Howard Glennerster
1964–1965Jack Sumner
1965–1966Robert McFarland
1966–1967Rosalind Steele
1967–1968Giles Radice
1968–1969Nicholas Bosanquet
1969–1970Bruce Lloyd
1970–1971David Keene
1971–1972Colin Crouch
1972–1973Isla Evans
1973–1974Guy Fiegehen
1974–1975Ian Wilson
1975–1976John Chesshire
1976–1977Toby Harris
1977–1978Steve Hoier
1978–1979Nick Butler
1979–1980Stephen Brooks
1980–1981Michael Crick
1983–1984Paul Goulding
1984–1985Andrew Cook
1985–1986Sarah Gilmore
1986–1993
1993–1994Katherine Edwards
1994–1995Darren Kalynuk
1995–1996Emma Beswick
1996–1997Tom Happold
1997–1998Peter Metcalfe
1998–1999Howard Dawber
1999–2000Seema Malhotra
2000–2001Mari Williams
2001–2002Guy Lodge
2002–2003James Connal
2003–2004Jessica Asato
2004–2005Kevin Bonavia
2005–2006Prema Gurunathan
2006–2007Conor McGinn
2007–2008Mark Rusling
2008–2009Kate Groucutt
2009–2010David Chaplin
2010–2011Adrian Prandle
2011–2012Sara Ibrahim
2012–2013Steve Race
2013–2014James Hallwood
2014–2015A. Adranghi
2015–2016Martin Edobor
2016–2017Ellie Groves[12]
2017–2018Ria Bernard[13]
2018–2019Charlotte Norton[14]
2019–2020Adam Allnutt[15]
2020–2021Mark Whittaker[16]
2021–2022Laura Cunliffe-Hall[17]
2022-2023 James Potts

Young Fabian Press

  • Anticipations – Twice-yearly print magazine of the Young Fabians

Former Projects

  • Anatomy – Former policy project-centric serial

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Politics Special Reports". The Guardian. 2013.
  2. ↑ Margaret Cole (1961). The Story of Fabian Socialism. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0804700917.
  3. ↑ The London School of Economics (1961–2009). "LSE Fabian Society and Young Fabian digital archives". The Fabian Society.
  4. ↑ "Member Organisations".
  5. ↑ Colin Crouch (1969). "Politics in a Technological Society". The Fabian Society.
  6. ↑ Vince Cable (1969). "Whither Kenyan Emigrants". The Fabian Society.
  7. ↑ "YF Members Profile: the successes and challenges confronting the organisation archives".
  8. ↑ "Anticipations Magazine". Young Fabians.
  9. ↑ "YES Seminar Luxembourg". Young Fabians.
  10. ↑ Saludes, Carolina (15 March 2020). "The Young Fabians keep calm and carry on... online (CoVid-19 announcement)". Young Fabians.
  11. ↑ https://www.youngfabians.org.uk/constitution
  12. ↑ Fabians, Young (14 November 2016). "Ellie Groves elected National Chair". Young Fabians. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  13. ↑ Stawiski, Jakub (31 October 2017). "Young Fabian Executive Election Results". Young Fabians. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  14. ↑ "Young Fabians election results – in full | LabourList". LabourList | Labour's biggest independent grassroots e-network. 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  15. ↑ Young Fabians list
  16. ↑ @youngfabians (November 21, 2020). "It's now time for us to introduce our new Exec for 2020-21 - please join us in welcoming our new team 🎉🎉🎉 They for…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ↑ @youngfabians (November 22, 2021). "It's now time for us to introduce our new @youngfabians Exec for 2021 -22 - please join us in welcoming our new team Party popperParty popperParty popperThey for…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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