UK politics is in a remarkable state of flux, with Keir Starmer‘s Labour government facing multiple problems.
Reform UK is surging ahead in the polls and, although the next general election is not until 2029, many pundits are already convinced we are headed for a far-right government led by Nigel Farage, possibly propped up by the Conservatives in coalition.
Given the current state of the Labour Party and the extent of its corporate capture, any opposition to this will have to come from the likes of the green Party and the newly fledged Your Party, the latter of which had its inaugural conference in liverpool last weekend.
It felt very much as though there were two entirely different conferences taking place; the one being reported on in the mainstream/legacy media and the one being experienced by people in attendance.
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The first conference was a source of contempt and ridicule in the UK’s mostly right-wing legacy media. Reporters struggled even to fathom that a political party would indulge in the apparently quaint idea of grassroots democracy on a substantial scale. Their consensus was that Your Party was going nowhere fast.
The other conference, the one experienced by participants, was full of renewed enthusiasm for the seriously progressive policies that had lain behind Corbynism since 1995 and were now hopefully being exemplified.
Over two days, the 2,500 members in attendance (and the many thousands more who joined in online) debated and held direct and binding votes on 28 key issues, ranging from the name (they chose to stick with Your Party) to its constitution and organising strategy, through to finer details such as the fiscal behavior of its MPs.Their passion was clear,although somewhat tempered by dismay at the deep divisions that clearly persisted,with the party having been substantially knocked back by several internal disagreements in the run-up to the event and its co-founders and main figureheads,former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana often appearing at loggerheads.
This dismay was made worse by the nastiness typical of modern social media and the thoughtful yet often dispiriting in-depth analyses, including by Steven Methven in Novara Media and Paul Knaggs in Labour Heartlands.
Whatever you think of Yo
Worth a look