The new constitution maintains the Party as an industrial federation of Trade Unions, Socialist Societies, Trades Councils, and Local Labour Parties; but it establishes the principle of individual membership of the Party through membership of the local organization. Every man and woman, therefore, may now join a Local Labour Party. It is intended to form a Labour Party in every parliamentary constituency, as a unit of organization to which Trade Union local branches and Local Trade Councils, Co-operative, Socialist, and other such societies will be affiliated, and to which each individual local supporter of the Labour Party will adhere. Every candidate for Parliament must be chosen or approved by the local organization and accepted by the National Executive. He must stand as a Labour candidate, and, if elected, must agree to act in harmony with the constitution and standing orders of the Party, and accept the decisions of Party meetings. He must include in his electoral address those issues defined by the National Executive as the Labour Party’s programme for the election. The official adherence of the Co-operative movement to the political Labour Party is rather interesting. For many years when motions were brought forward in the Annual Co-operative Congress in favour of the Co-operative movement taking up political activity, these resolutions were invariably rejected by overwhelming majorities. However, in 1918, at an emergency conference of the Co-operative movement in London on October 16 and 17, it was decided to take political action. The reasons which led the Co-operative movement to this decision were taxation of Co-operative dividends, the alleged neglect of the Government to make greater use of the Co-operative movement in dealing with the national food supply, and alleged unfair treatment of the staffs of the distributive societies under the Military Service Acts. For the year 1917, prior to its reconstitution, the Labour Party’s membership was as follows: 123 Trade Unions, with a total membership of 2,415,383; 239 Trades Councils and Local Labour Parties; 3 Socialist Societies with a total membership of 47,140, making a total affiliated membership of 2,465,131, which also included the membership of the Co-operative and Women’s Labour League affiliations. For the year 1920, the membership of the Labour Party was 122 Trade Unions, with a total membership of 4,317,537, 492[1] affiliated Trades Councils and Local Labour Parties, 5 Socialist Societies, representing a membership of 42,270, making a total membership of 4,359,807, which also included the membership of the Co-operative and Women’s Labour League affiliations.