Chair of the LME at the time, Anna Turley commented that it was "because of their strong pro-EU values and the fact that we think they are in the best place to take Labour to victory at the next election.
"[3] Originally set up in the early 1960s as the Labour Committee for Europe, it split in 1981 when some of its prominent members (notably Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers, John Roper and Tom Ellis) left Labour to found the SDP.
Others (such as Denis Howell MP (who became the new chair) and trade union leaders Geoffrey Drain and Roy Grantham) stayed and renamed the organisation Labour Movement for Europe, making a left wing case for Europe, remaining within the Labour Party.
Over recent years, its Chairs have included Bill Rammell, Chris Bryant, Mary Creagh, Richard Corbett, and Anna Turley.
(From 2010 to 2014 Corbett was senior advisor to the first full-time and long-term President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.)