McGinn to lead New Labour think-tank
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 By Staff
reporter
An Armagh-born Irishman has been announced as the head of an influential
British Labour Party organisation.
Conor McGinn — who hails from Camlough in South Armagh — was
elected Chair of the Young Fabians the under-31’s section of the
Fabian Society. The society is a prominent think-tank of which almost
every member of the British cabinet — including both Tony Blair
and Gordon Brown — are members.
The Irishman is also a key member of the Federation of Irish Societies
and took office last week just months after he stood as the youngest Labour
candidate in the local elections in which he was narrowly defeated.
Described as “Labour’s future intellectual stars” by
The Times and as “the Labour MPs of the future” by The Guardian
the Young Fabians are regarded as a hugely important and powerful group
within the Labour Party.
In 1994 the Young Fabians played a key role in providing support for Tony
Blair’s campaign for leadership of the Labour Party and McGinn will
be at the helm for a 12-month period that is expected to include a leadership
election which will decide who succeeds the current Prime Minister.
He said: “I expect it to be a challenging and very busy 12 months
in what are momentous times for the Labour Party and I feel lucky to be
a part of that.
“There will probably be a leadership contest in the party in the
year ahead and a lot of media focus will be around that.
“But the work that the Young Fabians do in promoting and encouraging
debate amongst those of us on the centre-left will continue.
“Already we have a pretty full programme with key speakers from
government talking to our members about the big policy decisions on a
national and international level.”
McGinn — who is also the Secretary of the Labour Party Irish Society
— is aware of the Irish input into the history of the Fabians and
the wider Labour movement.
He said: “George Bernard Shaw was one of the founders of the Fabian
Society in 1884 and around the same time another Irishman, James Connell,
wrote the famous words to our movement’s anthem, the Red Flag.
“Irish people in Britain are synonymous with Labour and the commitment
to achieving a progressive, fair and more equal society and I am very
glad to be playing even the smallest role in continuing that great tradition.”
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