Fabian Society - Election

Fabian Society

Simon Collyer. Founder of the ABC is standing for election for a place on the Fabian Society National Executive Committee. Voting closes at 5 pm on Friday 23 October 2015. 

There are 10 national society candidates and 3 local society candidates.

Those elected hold office for two years. 

The Fabian Society is Britain’s oldest political think tank. Founded in 1884, the Society is at the forefront of developing political ideas and public policy on the left.

What the Fabian Society stands for:

We aim to promote:

•          greater equality of power, wealth and opportunity
•          the value of collective action and public service
•          an accountable, tolerant and active democracy
•          citizenship, liberty and human rights
•          sustainable development
•          multilateral international cooperation

Currently, we aim to promote these objectives through six central programmes:

Born equal – tackling economic inequality in the UK

Britain’s future – identity, constitution and the UK’s place in the world

Together – public services, communities and collective endeavour

Green lives – the environment and citizens

Business for us all – innovation, responsibility and long-termism

Facing the Future – rebuilding, reaching out, reconnecting

Organisation

The society is alone among think tanks in being a democratically-constituted membership organisation, with almost 7,000 members. The Fabian Society is governed by the democratically-elected Executive Committee while the day-to-day operation of the society is overseen by the General Secretary.

Through a wide range of publications and events the society influences political and public thinking, but also provides a space for broad and open-minded debate, drawing on an unrivalled external network and its own expert research and analysis. Its programme offers a unique breadth, encompassing national conferences and policy seminars; periodicals, books, reports and digital publication; and commissioned and in-house research and comment.

Member-led activity includes 70 local Fabian societies, the Scottish and Welsh Fabians, the Fabian Women’s Network and the Young Fabians, which is itself the leading organisation on the left for young people to debate and influence political ideas.

Fabian partners

The society was one of the original founders of the Labour Party and is constitutionally affiliated to the party as a  Socialist Society . These are membership organisations in sympathy with the party, which sit alongside trade unions as organisational members. The society is however editorially, organisationally and financially independent of the Labour Party and works with a wide range of partners of all political persuasions and none.

The society is a member institution of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS). FEPS is an independent EU-wide social democrat political foundation, affiliated to the Party of European Socialists (PES). It aims to establish an intellectual crossroads between social democracy and the European project and is a platform for ideas, working in close collaboration with its membership of over 40 national political foundations and think tanks.

We have sister organisations in Australia and New Zealand which are totally independent:

The Australian Fabian Society

The New Zealand Fabian Society

Fabianism

The Fabian Society is not a doctrinal organisation but the Fabian tradition informs how we think and what we do. No other think tank has an adjective of its own. The commitment to Fabianism means the society believe in the fight against inequality, the power of collective action and an internationalist outlook. We believe in social progress, evidence, expertise, rationality and long-termism. Fabians advocate gradualist, reformist and democratic means in a journey towards radical ends. The society is a pluralist movement and creates space for open debate.

Fabian Society Member: Julia Gillard. Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is a former Australian politician who served as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, as leader of the Australian Labor Party. She was the first and to date only woman to hold either position.