The Constitution of the St Andrews Labour Society

 

Title and aims

 

This organisation shall be called the ‘St Andrews Labour Society’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘the society’). Its main purposes shall include, but will not be limited to: 

• Campaigning for the national Labour party in local, regional, and national elections or referendums;

• Cultivating an environment in which members of the society can freely, without fear of reproach, debate and discuss matters of Labour party policy;

• Organising events in which the ideas and principles of the Labour party and of the society can be expressed to the student body.

 

 

Affiliations

 

The society shall be affiliated to the following organisations:

• St Andrews University Students’ Association

• Labour Students.

• Scottish Labour Students

• The British Labour Party

 

 

Membership

 

Any matriculated student of the University of St Andrews shall be eligible to purchase ordinary membership to the society.

Only paid members who have joined the society before the announcement of a General Meeting shall have voting rights in said meeting.

 

 

Officers and Committee

 

There shall be the following Officers, who shall constitute the Committee of the society:

      General Officers

• Chair;

• Vice Chair;

• Treasurer;

• General Secretary;

• Media Secretary;

• Events Secretary;

• Campaigns Secretary;

Liberation Officers

• Women’s Officer;

• BAME Officer;

• LGBT+ Officer;

• Disabilities Officer;

Representative Officers

• Postgraduate Representative;

• Freshers Representative.

 

General and Representative Officers shall be elected at a General Meeting or co-opted by the Committee if no candidate is elected at a General Meeting or in the case of casual vacancy. Elections for representative officers shall be held at a General Meeting at the beginning of Martinmas semester. 

Liberation Officers shall be elected by a caucus of members who self-define as a member of the corresponding liberation group.

The Committee may co-opt additional members to the Committee with the exception of liberation officers, if doing so is expedient to the good governance and organisation of the society.

Only those Officers elected at a General Meeting shall be voting members.

The quorum for a Committee meeting shall be at least seven voting Officers (i.e. a majority of voting Officers), provided that one of them is the Chair or Vice Chair.

No Officer shall derive any financial profit or monetary gain by means of their Officership, including favourable rates on goods or services, unless the same benefit is available to any and all members of the society.

The Committee reserves the exclusive authority to:

• Authorise expenditure that exceeds £30;

• Co-opt additional members to the Committee;

• Constitute any subcommittee of its own members.

The Committee shall not delegate these powers to any other person or groups, including a subcommittee of its own members.

Any Officer may resign at any point by submitting written notice thereof to the Chair or Vice Chair. Such resignation shall take effect at the time specified in the notice or, in the absence of a specified time, upon receipt of the notice.

 

 

Duties of Office

 

The Chair shall:

• Serve as the primary point of contact between the Students’ Association and the society;

• Chair Committee meetings;

• Oversee the smooth and efficient operation of the society;

• Be a signatory on the bank mandate;

• Be responsible for representing the society to the best of their ability to their fellow students.

The Vice Chair shall:

• Support the Chair in their position;

• Act on behalf of the Chair and assume responsibility for the society if the Chair is unable to perform their duties;

• Assist other officers in their roles when required;

• Produce a regular newsletter;

• Oversee the society’s year-long campaign alongside the Campaigns Secretary and other officers.

The Treasurer shall:

• Maintain records of the society’s financial activity in accordance with Association Guidelines;

• Execute any resolution by the committee to apply to the Students’ Association for funding;

• Be a signatory on the bank mandate.

The General Secretary shall:

• Maintain a full and accurate membership role;

• Take minutes at all committee and general meetings

• Maintain the society’s records and files

• Maintain the society’s website alongside the Media Secretary

The Media Secretary shall:

• Be responsible for all the society’s social media presence;

• Be the society’s primary contact with media outlets;

• Not speak on behalf of the society or any member or Officer without consent of the majority of the committee.

• Maintain the society’s website alongside the General Secretary

The Events Secretary shall:

• Be responsible for organising any and all events for the society.

The Campaigns Secretary shall:

• Be the primary point of contact between the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) and the society;

• Be responsible for organising local campaigning, if and when there are elections or referendums that require the society to campaign;

• Work alongside the Vice-Chair in the running of the society’s year-long campaign.

The Women’s Officer shall:

• Promote the interests of members who have any part of their identity as woman or non-binary within the society and the wider student community;

• Highlight issues that specifically affect the Society’s members who identify as women or non-binary.

The BAME Officer shall:

• Promote the interests of members who identify as BAME within the society and the wider student community;

• Highlight issues that specifically affect the Society’s BAME members.

The LGBT+ Officer shall:

• Promote the interests of members who identify as LGBT+ within the society and the wider student community;

• Highlight issues that specifically affect the Society’s LGBT+ members.

The Disabilities Officer shall:

• Promote the interests of disabled (including all physical and non-physical disabilities e.g mental illness, learning disabilities, and long-term illness) members within the society and the wider student community;

• Highlight issues that specifically affect the Society’s disabled members.

The Postgraduate Representative shall:

• Represent the interests of the Society’s postgraduate members.

The Freshers Representative shall:

• Represent the interests of the Society’s Fresher and undergraduate members.

 

 

Finances

 

Any debt incurred by the society shall be satisfied by an equal subscription from all members. The annual subscription for Ordinary Membership shall be approved at a General Meeting. Two signatories of the Students’ Association shall appear of the society’s bank mandate.

Any society member attending a meeting, conference, or other event on behalf of the society shall be entitled to request a reimbursement of up to 50% of travel costs within Scotland or 25% of travel costs outside of Scotland. Reimbursements must be authorised as any other expenditure. The Treasurer shall reserve the right to refuse a reimbursement if they feel such an expenditure would threaten the financial security of the society.

The Constitution

The Chairperson cannot change the Constitution by themselves, and neither can any one member of the Committee. Changes to the Constitution can only be achieved by:

• Convening a General Meeting on the advice and consent of the Committee, and by proposing a motion for Constitutional change. Constitutional change may only be achieved in this manner if a majority of officers propose it.  

• Starting a process of member balloting. If more than two-thirds of the total membership of the society supports change to the Constitution on a specific matter, the Constitution should be changed in accordance with the wishes of the membership, provided that those who wish to change the Constitution can give the Chairperson, preferably in the form of a petition, evidence that two-thirds of the total membership wishes for Constitutional change.

 

 

Special Provisions

 

The society is the Labour Party’s representative to the student body of St Andrews, and as such the society has a series of responsibilities that other societies may not necessarily have. These ‘special provisions’ shall be outlined here.

• The British Labour Party is a democratic party that operates within a parliamentary democracy. As such, no member of the society should advocate, in the name of the society, national policies or measures that attack the principles of the parliamentary democracy within which the British Labour Party operates. Promotion of such values in the society’s name will not be tolerated. 

• The society and, indeed, the Labour Party, believes in free speech. As such, the society will look to UK law on free speech to provide its policy towards free speech and freedom of expression.

• The British Labour Party (and indeed, the society) is a ‘broad church’ of political belief. It is incumbent upon each member to not only recognise this but to not let differences of opinion lead to abusive behaviour. Every member has the right to express their opinion.

• Given that the British Labour Party is a ‘broad church’, every member has the right to disagree and challenge Labour Party policy. Acceptance of Party policy will not be forced upon any member.

• The society will not endorse, campaign for or affiliate themselves to any organisation that is in conflict with the values of the British Labour Party or the St Andrews University Students’ Association.