Labour Live

Labour Live was a one-day festival of music and politics in London, United Kingdom, organised by the Labour Party to capitalise on the appearance of Jeremy Corbyn at Glastonbury Festival in summer 2017 and promote the public image of the party and of Corbyn himself. Labour described it as an event 'to bring our incredible movement together'.[1]

Acts

With regards to music, Clean Bandit headlined the festival, and other acts included Glen Matlock, Declan McKenna, DVTN, Feminist Jukebox, Hookworms, Jermain Jackman, Rae Morris, Potent Whisper, Nia Wyn, Reverend and The Makers, Sam Fender, She Drew The Gun, and The Magic Numbers.[2]

Politicians speaking included Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn, the then-Shadow Secretary of State for International Development Kate Osamor, and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

Other speakers included The Guardian columnist and author Owen Jones, journalist and author Alex Nunns, journalist and author Rachel Shabi, and journalist and author Maya Goodfellow.[1]

Attendance and finances

The festival was reported to cost approximately £1 million.[3]

Tickets to the event were originally priced at £35 for adults, £30 for concessions and £10 for children. Before the event, however, the price was reduced to £10, with under-14s attending free of charge.[4] The festival was criticised for its low attendance, with only 3,000 tickets of the 20,000 capacity being sold according to 'insiders' while other estimates put the figure at 4,000. A month before the festival, the Huffington Post reported that only 15% of available tickets had been sold.[5][6]

Trade unions and constituency parties gave away free tickets with complimentary travel. Tickets were given away in the name of "Tony Blair, care of HMP Belmarsh", as well as in the names of Kim Il-sung and Leon Trotsky.[7][8] The Labour Party have not confirmed attendance figures.

It was reported in 2019 that the festival was one of the causes that the Labour Party is "skint".[9] When questioned by former National Executive Committee member Johanna Baxter in 2018 at Labour conference, party treasurer Diana Holland confirmed that the event did not make a profit, stating that she did not "think that was why it was organised", also stating that the party's reserve funds paid for the shortfall in costs, with general election funds untouched.[10]

References
  1. "Labour Live 2018". Unison. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  2. "Labour Live 2018 line-up and rumours". eFestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  3. Balls, Katy (11 June 2018). "Labour Live will cost the party more than money". The Spectator. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  4. Heffer, Greg (14 June 2018). "No sellout: Labour Live 'JezFest' ticket prices slashed by 70%". Sky News. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  5. Waugh, Paul (15 May 2018). "Corbyn's 'Labour Live' Summer Festival Sells Just 15% Of Tickets". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  6. Sabbagh, Dan; Elgot, Jessica; Syal, Rajeev (15 June 2018). "Labour Live: can the troubled festival recapture 2017's Corbynmania?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  7. Crace, John [@JohnJCrace] (14 June 2018). "Labour Live! is now giving away free tickets through Unite. Just been emailed 18 in the name of Tony Blair c/o HMP Belmarsh" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 January 2019 – via Twitter.
  8. "Kim Il-Sung, Trotsky and Tony Blair Attending Labour Live". Guido Fawkes. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  9. Shipman, Tim; Wheeler, Caroline (20 January 2019). "150,000 members desert Labour in Brexit backlash". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  10. "Labour confirms 'JezFest' event did not make a profit". Evening Standard. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
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