Held at the River Bank Park Plaza hotel in Lambeth, the event was attended by over 400 guests. This included over 60 Labour MPs and peers, including several members of the shadow cabinet. They were joined by assembly members, mayors, local councillors and other members of the Labour family, alongside trade union leaders and distinguished figures from the business community.

The evening’s keynote speeches were delivered by Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell MP and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Speeches were also given by General Secretary Jennie Formby, Shadow Secretary of State for Education Angela Rayner MP, and Shadow Minister for Small Businesses Bill Esterson MP who presented awards, and by Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities Dawn Butler MP, Baronness Shami Chakrabarti and Lord Adonis, who received award the Shadow Cabinet Member of the Year and Peer of the Year awards. The evening was hosted by comedian, broadcaster, and political commentator, Ayesha Hazarika. Entertainment was provided by musician Paul Stanworth, his band and Julia Othmer.

Speaking at the awards, Ibrahim Dogus, Co-Chairman of SME4Labour, highlighted the strengths of current Labour SME policies and called for the next Labour manifesto to go even further. Discussing prospects for SMEs in the context of Brexit and fast-moving geopolitics, Mr Dogus stresses that “it is vital that the voice of small and medium enterprise is not lost amidst all the noise” and reaffirmed the joint interests of Labour and small businesses, in generating local jobs and providing the glue which holds communities together.

Many speech makers commented on how encouraging it was to see women so well represented at the awards. In his speech, Sonny Leong, Co-Chairman of SME4Labour, highlighted the importance of shattering glass ceilings for women, saying “If women started businesses at the same rate as men, there’d be one million more entrepreneurs in the UK.”

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LABOUR EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2018

Trade Union of the Year Award

• Unison

• Fire Brigades Union - WINNER

• Communication Workers Union

• Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers

Outstanding Contribution Award

• Fabian Women’s Network

Labour Council of the Year Award

• Islington Council

• Manchester City Council - WINNER

• Liverpool City Council

• Hounslow Council

Socialist Society of the Year Award

• LGBT Labour

• Disability Labour - WINNER

Shadow Cabinet Member of the Year Award

• Diane Abbott MP

• Rebecca Long-Bailey MP

• John Healey MP

• Dawn Butler MP - WINNER

MP of the Year Award

• Alison McGovern MP - WINNER

• Tulip Siddiq MP

• Dan Carden MP

• David Lammy MP

• Ruth Cadbury MP

Labour Peer of the Year Award

• Baroness Shami Chakrabarti - WINNER

• Lord Maurice Glasman

• Lord Michael Cashman

• Lord Andrew Adonis – WINNER

Elected Mayor of the Year Award

• Philip Glanville (Hackney)

• Damien Egan (Lewisham)

• Rokhsana Fiaz (Newham) - WINNER

Constituency Labour Party of the Year Award

• Ilford South

• Tottenham

• Wolverhampton North

• Liverpool Walton - WINNER

MEP of the Year Award

• Lucy Anderson

• Seb Dance - WINNER

• Richard Corbett - WINNER

• Julie Ward

MSP of the Year Award

• Monica Lennon

• Johann Lamont

• Jenny Marra

• Neil Findlay - WINNER

London Assembly Member of the Year Award

• Unmesh Desai AM

• Florence Eshalomi AM

• Leonie Cooper AM

• Joanne McCartney AM - WINNER

• Dr Onkar Sahota AM

Labour Councillor of the Year Award

• Cllr Danny Thorpe

• Cllr Matthew Brown

• Cllr Aydin Dikerdem

• Cllr Clare Coghill - WINNER

• Cllr Melvin Collins

• Cllr Mete Coban

• Cllr Abdul Hai

• Cllr Andrea Mann

• Cllr Jas Athwal - WINNER

Friends Group of the Year Award

• Labour Friends of USA

• Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East - WINNER

• Labour Friends of Bangladesh