In tribute to Vera Derer
Vera Derer (1921-2018) was a
socialist and a feminist in the British Labour Party. She was active along with her husband
Vladimir from the early 1970s to the early 2000s. Together they were founder members and
long-term organisers of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD). CLPD's objective was to make the policy decisions reached at Labour Party Annual Conference binding on the Parliamentary Labour Party. To that end CLPD achieved the mandatory reselection of
Labour MPs and the widening of the franchise for the election of the Labour
leader from exclusively MPs to the party membership. It also campaigned for other improvements in
party democracy along with the extension of public ownership and positive
discrimination for women, black and working class members. Vera was not just a passionate activist but
also a very engaging person: a wonderful character and a tremendous hoot. It was one of my greatest privileges to be
friends with Vera and with her husband Vladimir, and this blog is intended as a
tribute to her.
I welcome contributions from people who knew Vera and who would like to write something about her.
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