‘Your Party’: A Cause For Celebration?

This is the transcript for my YouTube video ‘Your Party’: A Cause For Celebration?

Just when things look their darkest, up pops Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana with a new Left political party building on the ideals set forth during Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party and a genuinely democratic bottom-up organisational structure.  Within days, the party, which is still currently unnamed and uses the placeholder “Your Party”, reached over 600,000 sign ups, making it the largest party membership in the UK.  It sounds too good to be true, especially to a man who’s used to disappointment like myself.

The buzz around the new Corbyn/Sultana project is massive, energising the electorate in a way that’s reminiscent of Corbyn’s Labour leadership campaign.  Despite the snide comments over the lack of a name for the new party, people seem to see this new political party as an alternative to what’s currently being offered by the other parties.  The idea that the party will be named in a democratic fashion and that policy will be set democratically too, sets it apart from the other parties and gives potential members a real feeling of ownership over the party.

“Your Party” is also the perfect vehicle for both Corbyn and Sultana because it uses the strengths of both of them and reduces some of the potential weaknesses.  Corbyn has the political knowledge and experience, the policies that people respond to and an engaging personality that engenders enthusiasm.  Sultana may have less in the way of political experience but she makes up for that with a firebrand attitude, a sense of social justice and an infectious enthusiasm.  Corbyn has a wide appeal across demographics but Sultana has the greater appeal to younger potential voters which will help the party because not every young person is going to be enamoured of an older person.

The Corbyn/Sultana team also defuses some of the criticisms that may be used to attack the new party.  The party can’t be called ageist, racist or misogynistic, given the characteristics of the leaders and it won’t be able to be labelled a cult of personality because most cults of personality are led by a single individual who moulds the group into their own image and would not countenance dissenting views, much like Starmer and “his party”.

This also works out well for a long-term project as Corbyn will be there as mentor imparting his morals, ethics and vision for a better society to his younger co-leader, who undoubtedly holds similar views but hasn’t had the years of thought that Corbyn has put in, and who can learn from his wisdom to become sole leader of the party when, or if, Corbyn decides to retire.  With the appeal to younger potential voters who can see that their views are not only listened to but actively sought out, the next generation of voters will flock to the party, further ensuring a more secure future for the political project.

Everything seems to be adding up to something wonderful.  We seem to be getting a second bite of the cherry that we were offered with Labour under Corbyn’s leadership.  So why am I so worried?

“Your Party” is a very credible threat to the status quo and the Establishment so we can expect the smears and vicious attacks to start in earnest.  The smear of anti-Semitism may not hold as much weight given the genocide being perpetrated by Israel that we have seen on social media but that won’t stop the Israel lobby and Corbyn-haters from hurling that accusation around.  Corbyn and Sultana need to stamp that accusation out right from the beginning and not try to appease those who accuse them of such things. 

The new party will also be at a financial disadvantage because they will never get any large donations from rich individuals or corporations who will see “Your Party” as a threat to their continued wealth and ability to avoid paying their taxes.  Corbyn managed to get Labour’s books out of the red with no big donors but can that be replicated with a new party?

And, with Starmer’s authoritarian streak and visceral hatred and fear of Corbyn, will he try to use the law to stop the new party from being able to fight elections or stand candidates in elections?  We’ve already seen Starmer’s misuse of anti-terror legislation to clamp down on freedom of speech, giving the police the power to arrest people on even the grounds of planning a demonstration in a chilling move towards thought crime.

The Corbyn/Sultana project may have over 600,000 sign ups at the moment but how many of those will actually translate into votes in any elections?  Labour was undermined as a Democratic Socialist party by Tory-like infiltrators back in the 1980s so how can we be sure that everyone who signs up genuinely wants the new party to succeed?  Can Corbyn and Sultana keep the party true to their vision of Democratic Socialism without having to resort to purging infiltrators from their ranks and the inevitable attacks that any such purges would bring?

I’m a pessimist by nature.  Depression and experience have taught me to always temper hope with suspicion and distrust.  I truly hope that this new political project can succeed because I supported Labour under Corbyn’s leadership as it offered hope for a better future and it was cruelly snatched from us.  However, I can see all the obstacles that “Your Party” faces and more and I refuse to let myself feel hope until the green shoots of a better future start showing because to lose hope again would be too much for me to bear.

I wish Corbyn and Sultana all the best in their efforts but I won’t start celebrating just yet.