Vladimir's father was involved in the anti-fascist resistance in Prague but was arrested and sent to Theresienstadt which was a hybrid concentration camp and ghetto established by the German SS during World War II.
In the years that followed they became increasingly disillusioned in the way the Leadership and Labour Government operated and specifically angry at the way Harold Wilson, the Leader of the Opposition, had rejected a policy document drawn up by the Party's National Executive, which called for the state to take a controlling interest in 25 major companies, and which was passed at the 1973 Annual Conference.
The main motivation for the Campaign was the record of the Labour Governments in the 1960s and also the way that Annual Conference decisions were continually ignored on key domestic and international issues.
CLPD sometimes promoted seemingly non-democracy issues such as the significant extension of public ownership, defending the welfare state and the first- past-the-post electoral system (Vladimir Derer believed that PR would mean no majority Labour Governments).
Tactics were primarily based on first producing model constitutional rule changes and motions and campaigning nationwide for CLP branches and general meetings to support these and submit them to be voted on at Annual Conference.
Campaigning for reforms and key policy changes required organisation, determination and flexibility over at least 4 to 5 years to build up sufficient support nationally for them to be approved at Annual Conference.
The Derers’ home in Golders Green became a centre of political activity including meetings, planning, printing and administration to help further the campaign, which was supported by hundreds of Labour Party activists in both CLPs and affiliated trade unions throughout the country.
The CLPD also staged fringe meetings at conferences to help galvanise support for key reforms and provide commentary by well-known speakers on the left in the Party and unions on political issues of the day.
Although Vladimir firmly believed in Socialist principles, he could also exercise pragmatism and compromise when that was necessary to further the long-term strategy of the Labour Party becoming a transformative movement based on grass roots democracy, inclusiveness and diversity.
The CLGA supported slate of activists won two thirds of the seats, helping the Left to retain a foothold in the Party during a period when New Labour and its ‘centrist’ policies were in the ascendency.
At the 2017 Annual Conference three extra places for CLPs were achieved on Labour's NEC, reflecting the vast growth in membership under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.