Block votes to be abolished in selection of candidates for senior posts

Labour leaders will approve plans next month to end "control freakery" when the party chooses its candidates for a range of senior posts after criticism of Tony Blair's "authoritarian" style.

A Labour document obtained by The Independent reveals that the party will switch to a system of "one member, one vote" ballots when it selects candidates for European Parliament elections, its leaders in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, and local mayors.

The changes mark a significant retreat by Labour's Millbank headquarters, which faced a rebellion by grassroots members after Alun Michael was installed as Labour's leader in Wales to block Rhodri Morgan. Mr Michael was later forced to resign as First Secretary and was replaced by Mr Morgan.

Millbank was also accused of a "stitch-up" over the way it in effect imposed Labour candidates for the 1999 elections to the European Parliament.

There was also controversy over the voting system in London, where Frank Dobson narrowly defeated Ken Livingstone in the battle to become Labour's candidate for Mayor of London. Mr Livingstone then defeated Mr Dobson by running as an independent.

The changes will force trade unions, who have a third of the votes in the London, Scotland and Wales selection contests, to ballot their members before casting their votes in future selections. The unions' votes will then be shared proportionately among the candidates to reflect the opinion within each union, in line with the ballots.

In previous selection contests, unions were not forced to hold ballots and were allowed to cast their entire block vote for one candidate, even if some members preferred a rival. Union votes played a crucial role in Mr Michael's victory over Mr Morgan.

Under the new rules, the unions will not have a vote when Labour chooses its candidate for a mayoral election in towns and cities outside London. The aim is to stop unions representing council workers playing a decisive role in choosing the Labour candidate.

The document, written by Margaret McDonagh, Labour's outgoing general secretary, will be agreed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) next month beforegoing to Labour's annual conference in Brighton in October for final approval. Ms McDonagh said the new rules would be "clear, consistent and less bureaucratic", and would ensure that Labour members "have ownership of the process" by adopting "one member, one vote" ballots for all selections.

The report suggests that Millbank is now backing away from a controversial plan to abolish constituency Labour parties, a proposal that ran into grassroots opposition during a consultation exercise on plans to create a "21st-century party." However, local parties will be able to experiment with "local policy forums", which might include people who are not members.

Labour's membership has fallen to 254,000, according to today's issue of Tribune newspaper, down from 420,000 when the party came to power in 1997, and fewer than the Tories' 300,000 members.