The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom that works in a long-standing electoral alliance with the Labour Party.

It is a distinct legal and political entity, but since an agreement made in 1927, it has stood joint candidates with the Labour Party. Currently, candidates selected by members of both parties run under the description “Labour and Co-operative Party”.

Labour and Co-operative MPs are therefore elected on a joint ticket.

As an official, registered political party, the Co-operative Party is regulated by the Electoral Commission under the Political Parties and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA).

The party’s core purpose is to advance co-operative values and principles within the British political system, advocating for a society where wealth and power are shared. It represents the political arm of the British co-operative movement.

As a result of its electoral pact with the now-governing Labour Party, the Co-operative Party holds significant representation across various UK political institutions, making it the fourth-largest political grouping in the House of Commons.

Andy Burnham is the first prime minister elected to parliament as a Labour and Co-operative MP. Burnham was selected as the Labour and Co-operative candidate for the June 2026 Makerfield by-election.

House of Commons representation: A reported 43 Labour and Co-operative Party MPs were elected at the 2024 general election. This represented the largest-ever intake of Labour and Co-operative MPs. This standing makes the Co-operative Party the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons.

Co-operatives and party affiliation

Co-operatives or co-ops are businesses or organisations owned and run by their members.

The Co-operative Party was founded by the co-operative movement and serves as its political wing, representing its values in parliament and other representative bodies.

Six of the UK’s largest consumer co-operatives are affiliated to the Co-operative Party. These include the Co-operative Group, Midcounties Co-operative, Central England Co-operative, East of England Co-operative, Scotmid Co-operative, and Chelmsford Star Co-operative.

The trade unions Community and Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) are also affiliated.

Who is the leader of the Co-operative Party?

In line with its co-operative principles, the party does not have a single, formal “leader.” Instead, its political and organisational leadership is distributed among several key figures and bodies.

Joe Fortune has served as the general secretary of the Co-operative Party since August 2019. Fortune succeeded Claire McCarthy. Addressing his party’s standing, Fortune told the House magazine in October 2024 that he had watched “an awful lot of expensive conversations from an awful lot of cheap seats”.

He is responsible for managing the day-to-day business of the party. The general secretary is appointed by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

The chair of the NEC is Jim McMahon. He assumed the role on 3 October 2020.

McMahon is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, having first been elected to parliament at the 2015 general election. He served as minister of state for local government from July 2024 to September 2025.

The NEC is the party’s highest decision-making body and determines its strategy. Its membership is drawn from individual members, affiliated co-operative societies, trade unions and the party’s representatives in parliament.

A total of 11 NEC members are elected every three years, according to the party’s rule book.

Preet Kaur Gill was elected as chair of the Co-operative Party parliamentary group in November 2020.

What does the Co-operative Party stand for?

The Co-operative Party’s foundational mission is to build a society where power and wealth are shared.

The party’s rule book defines its purpose as promoting “co-operative and mutual forms of economic, social and voluntary organisation, which are based on the principles of mutual ownership and democratic control”.

The party is “committed to working with the Labour Party and the trade union movement to achieve their common goals.”

The party’s policy platform for the 2024 general election was set out in a document entitled Co-operative Change.

In the foreword to the document, the party’s general secretary, Joe Fortune, wrote: “In the future, Britain will need cleaner energy to achieve net zero, greater social care provision for our ageing population and more innovative technology to stay competitive in a global economy…

“The next general election provides us with the opportunity to create a greener, fairer nation – where wealth and power are shared. Let’s achieve this together, by building co-operation at home and abroad.”

The party listed four key priorities. These included doubling the size of the co-operative sector, achieving the “rapid and exponential growth” in community owned renewable energy, introducing a new “community right to buy” with strengthened localism powers, and introducing a new offence for violence against shopworkers.

The party defined a community “right to buy” as giving “community groups the first right of refusal on the purchase of listed assets of community value.”

The Co-operative Party supports greater decentralisation and devolution, in keeping with co-operative values. The party argues that greater devolution can “reduce inequality, improve economic dynamism and provide greater opportunities for people across the UK.”

In February 2025, Fortune warned the Labour Party about pandering to the right of British politics. The Co-operative Party general secretary criticised those who wanted to “cynically exploit” Britain’s “left behind” communities.

According to a LabourList report, Fortune added: ​“There’s too many who feel that economic growth isn’t coming to their street. Too many community assets have been lost…

“Now, from my point of view, what we must not do is pander to those who cynically exploit this. We must not.”

Co-operative Party membership

The Co-operative Party reported 13,430 members in its 2024 board report and annual accounts review. This figure is independent of the Labour Party’s membership, although many individuals are members of both parties.

History of the Co-operative Party

The Co-operative Party was founded on 17 October 1917.

The party’s formation was a response by the British co-operative movement to the perceived unfair treatment it faced from the government during the First World War, particularly regarding taxation and representation on wartime committees.

The movement decided it needed its own direct political representation in parliament.

The party’s electoral baptism came at the January 1918 Prestwich by-election. The Co-operative candidate, Henry May, won 2,832 votes (25.0%) in a two-way contest versus the Liberal Party.

A total of 10 Co-operative candidates stood in the 1918 general election. In the constituency of Kettering, Alfred Waterson won election as the first Co-operative MP.

Four Co-operative MPs were elected at the 1922 general election.

In 1927, the party formalised its relationship with the Labour Party through an electoral agreement, known as the Cheltenham Agreement, to avoid standing against each other.

Nine Labour Co-operative MPs were elected at the 1929 general election, the first since the Cheltenham Agreement.

In the post-war Labour landslide, achieved at the 1945 general election, 23 Co-operative MPs were elected.

In 1946, the Labour and Co-operative parties began standing candidates under a joint banner.

Throughout its history, the party has worked to embed co-operative ideas in public policy.

The Co-operative Party renewed its agreement with Labour in 2003. The new document outlined that the Co-operative Party would “engage actively with the Labour Party policy development process, and have the right to be represented as a partner in the National Policy Forum and its representative bodies.”

The agreement also established a liaison committee of the national executive committees of the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party “to consider matters of mutual interest and the application of this agreement in special cases referred to it by either side.”

Visibility of the Co-operative Party

Despite being the fourth-largest party in parliament, due to the nature of its electoral agreement with the Labour Party, the Co-operative Party often suffers from a lack of visibility. But several senior figures associated with the Labour Party are also members of the Co-operative Party.

Andy Burnham, the prime minister, is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Makerfield.

Lucy Powell, the deputy leader of the Labour party, is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Manchester Central.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Stalybridge and Hyde.

Douglas Alexander, the secretary of state for Scotland, is the Labour and Co-operative MP for East Lothian.

Steve Reed, the former housing secretary, is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Streatham and Croydon North.

Anneliese Dodds, the former shadow chancellor, is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Oxford East.

Anna Turley, the former chair of the Labour Party, is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Redcar.

The Co-operative Party has previously sought to address its lack of recognition and representation in the media.

In August 2025, Joe Fortune wrote to the director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie, to “raise serious concerns” about the Co-operative Party’s lack of representation across BBC platforms. Fortune noted that Labour and Co-operative MPs are often simply referred to as Labour MPs.

The general secretary wrote: “The question of how elected representatives are labelled, and whether that labelling is consistent with what appeared on the ballot paper, is not a niche editorial concern. It is a matter of democratic accuracy and institutional trust.

“The Co-operative Party is Britain’s fourth-largest party by number of MPs. Our elected representatives stood and were elected on a joint platform with the Labour Party. That designation is not symbolic; it is a reflection of over a century of joint working and joint mandate.”