Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015 This article is based on a talk given by Pauline Bryan to the Scottish Labour Campaign for Socialism AGM on 20th September on Your Party and its implications for the Scottish Left.
No sooner had the announcement that the membership portal of Your Party was now open, than an “Urgent message” from Jeremy Corbyn was circulated telling those prospective members who had signed up to cancel their direct debits. This was followed by the MP, Zarah Sultana’s admission that the relevant emails did not have the dual authorisation of both herself and Jeremy.
No sooner had the announcement that the membership portal of Your Party was now open, than an “Urgent message” from Jeremy Corbyn was circulated telling those prospective members who had signed up to cancel their direct debits. This was followed by the MP, Zarah Sultana’s admission that the relevant emails did not have the dual authorisation of both herself and Jeremy.
Even for those of us who were not going to join this new party it was disturbing and saddening. It got worse: Jeremy reported Zarah to the Office of the Information Commissioner and Zarah accused Jeremy of being part of a sexist boy’s club and said she was taking out a defamation case.
Today (Monday 22nd September) an article in the Guardian suggests Zarah is taking a step back in an effort to de-escalate, including dropping the defamation case.
However, it may be difficult for Your Party to come back from such fierce in-fighting before the Party has even formally launched.
Was such conflict inevitable? Some commentators, like Andrew Murray in the Morning Star argued that differences could be overcome and a new left formation launched. However, no-one was able to say how the differences on an issue like Trans rights, could be resolved in a party that accommodated both independent MP Adnan Hussein, whose position could described as socially conservative and Zara Sultanah MP who would be seen “liberal” on this issue. She certainly didn’t seem to think cohabitation was possible:
“This is a progressive, socialist party… my job as a parliamentarian first and foremost, as well as someone who is part of Your Party, is to speak up for the most marginalised voices…and that includes trans people”. “Anyone who feels like they can’t subscribe to… these principles, then [Your Party] might not be for them,”
In Scotland, where there seems to be more consensus and less contention, the Scottish Left Review (SLR) magazine set out to explore what principles might unite any Scottish initiative with – or within – the new party.
In his contribution Phil Taylor on behalf of the Scottish Left Alternative argued for a political/electoral challenge. He pointed to the 55 prominent leftists who had signed up for such an alternative, as an indication of how many people on the left see the need for such a challenge. The Scottish Left Alternative (SLA) does not want to form yet another party, instead they are in favour of a pluralist, electoral coalition seeking to offer, in Scotland, a radical left-wing option. SLA says that it will register “Scottish Left Alternative” with the electoral Commission – a name which could have been available to a new Left party and others who wish to be under that umbrella, seeking to stand in May 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.
In the same issue of SLR, Revolutionary Socialist RS21 claimed to have led the way in getting something off the ground in Scotland with a meeting called in Glasgow in early September. Less driven by electoral concerns and more committed to building a network across different campaigns and trade unions, RS21 argued that one initiative might involve gathering grievances about everyday life under capitalism – surely a long-term project in its own right.
These represent two views of the role of the Party – electoral challenge or building a broad campaigning base.
The Communist Party of Britain was represented by Stephanie Martin who argued that the new party’s traction among sitting ex Labour and independent MPs makes this venture markedly different from previous attempts at a new left party. In her view PR in Scotland could help the new Party if its policies and community organising strategy are informed by class analysis. She expressed concern about “Liberal trends infecting some aspects of the left and trade union policy, particular in relation to women’s liberation, self ID and prostitution which would fail to attract working class voters in Scotland”. This would of course put her in opposition to both of the ex Labour MPs whose presence was considered to have made this venture different from previous attempts. There were also contributions from a Scottish Green and the Republican Socialist Platform.
Writing from the perspective of the Scottish Labour Campaign for Socialism, but in a personal capacity, I wrote that unlike in England, the left in Scotland and Wales have had other serious electoral options to the Labour Party. At one point, for example, the Scottish Socialist Party had 6 MSPs and currently the Scottish Green Party has 7 MSPs.
During and after the 2014 referendum, the Radical Independence Campaign and other groups offered alternatives to both Labour and the SNP. But realistically, even with the partial PR system in Scottish Parliamentary elections, there is little space for new left parties. (Professor John Curtice argues that many of those voting Green in Scotland would be likely to vote for a new left Party and beyond them, there is not a significant section of the population who might be won to voting for another left alternative.) This is unfortunately not true on the right. Witness the rise of Reform.
Given the recent performance of the Labour Leadership, as in previous periods in history, the Labour Party is being written off by many on the left as a vehicle for radical change. It is interesting to note, however, how difficult it has been historically to eradicate left influence in the Party, interesting but not surprising given the affiliation of largest trade unions.
During the Blair/Brown period the right must have assumed that they had forged New Labour in a way that couldn’t be overturned. But in 2010 when Brown resigned, it was Ed Miliband who won the leadership rather than the chosen, more neoliberal brother, David, thanks to union votes. Then in 2015 Jeremy Corbyn won. When offered a choice, Labour Party members did not respond in the way they were supposed to. In 2020 Starmer had to lie to get the votes of previous Corbyn supporters to win the leadership election.
In relation to that election, it’s fair to say that many Labour loyalists lacked any ideological underpinning to their membership – they just wanted the Labour Party to be successful and to many Starmer looked like a winner.
Consequently, the Labour Party is not an easy place for socialists to work in, but neither is its membership irredeemably right wing. It is worth noting that the Scottish Labour Party conference in 2025 took left positions on a number of issues including calling on the Labour government in Westminster to reverse cuts to the winter fuel allowance, and for Britain to “end all complicity with Israel’s crimes”.
James Shneider who was associated with the group round Corbyn described the possible constituency of the new Party as including asset-poor workers, downwardly mobile graduates and racialised people.
He admits that Labour under Corbyn’s leadership, did not mobilise within other movements, such as tenants’ groups. Based on my own experience at that time it was difficult to mobilise many of the new members who joined to vote for Corbyn on anything, because most of them did not attend meetings either online or in person. For the most part, the explosion in membership did not appear to come from people already active in other campaigns who brought that experience into the Labour Party. Instead, joining Corbyn’s Labour Party appeared to be a one-off political gesture that was the extent of their political engagement. According to ESRC funded research undertaken in 2017, only 7% of Labour Party members surveyed had attended a party meeting and only 10% had engaged in electoral activity like leafletting.
The worry must be that the same will happen with any new Party, if the basis of recruitment mirrors that of the Corbyn membership expansion. “Corbynism” was not a political movement. If the constituent groups described by Shneider have not been mobilised by existing campaigns dealing with their immediate concerns, like housing, it is difficult to believe they will look to a political party, even a radical political party, to achieve their campaigning goals, although they are, surely, more likely to vote for such a party.
The Labour Party, by contrast, was originally formed by people who were active in other organisations. Most obviously trade unions, but importantly the ILP which was itself made up of members recruited through on-the-ground campaigns on rents, school meals, land reform, votes for women etc. Its main electoral strength was initially in local government where its victories built the base for national interventions. Crucially all ILP activities were sustained by a shared vision of better, socialist world.
It looks unlikely now that there will be a new Left party in place in time for the Scottish elections, although if peace breaks out, as it now appears, there could still be a launch in November. In any case one or two left groups, including Scottish Left Alternative may put up candidates, but hardly with the vigour necessary to cause an electoral upset.
This offers the Scottish Labour Party the opportunity to win those disaffected by neo-liberal decay by producing a radical manifesto that would address the main concerns of the Scottish people – the Health service, Care, Housing and the Cost of Living, but such is the leadership’s subservience to Starmer’s prospectus that Scottish Labour seems to have given up trying to win votes.
So, while we wait for Starmer to go – probably removed by the right worried about saving their seats - we must ensure that there is an alternative left strategy being constructed. It must be committed to rebuilding our links with activists campaigning on the environment, housing, disability rights, international issues and much more and bring their ideas into the Labour Party to promote those campaigns. Importantly, the Party’s links with trade unions should not be left to the whims of trade union leaders but should be reinvigorated at the rank-and-file level.
While we still have MPs, MSPs, local councillors and members prepared to stand up to the leadership, and fight for a socialist alternative, I believe there is hope.
Today (Monday 22nd September) an article in the Guardian suggests Zarah is taking a step back in an effort to de-escalate, including dropping the defamation case.
However, it may be difficult for Your Party to come back from such fierce in-fighting before the Party has even formally launched.
Was such conflict inevitable? Some commentators, like Andrew Murray in the Morning Star argued that differences could be overcome and a new left formation launched. However, no-one was able to say how the differences on an issue like Trans rights, could be resolved in a party that accommodated both independent MP Adnan Hussein, whose position could described as socially conservative and Zara Sultanah MP who would be seen “liberal” on this issue. She certainly didn’t seem to think cohabitation was possible:
“This is a progressive, socialist party… my job as a parliamentarian first and foremost, as well as someone who is part of Your Party, is to speak up for the most marginalised voices…and that includes trans people”. “Anyone who feels like they can’t subscribe to… these principles, then [Your Party] might not be for them,”
In Scotland, where there seems to be more consensus and less contention, the Scottish Left Review (SLR) magazine set out to explore what principles might unite any Scottish initiative with – or within – the new party.
In his contribution Phil Taylor on behalf of the Scottish Left Alternative argued for a political/electoral challenge. He pointed to the 55 prominent leftists who had signed up for such an alternative, as an indication of how many people on the left see the need for such a challenge. The Scottish Left Alternative (SLA) does not want to form yet another party, instead they are in favour of a pluralist, electoral coalition seeking to offer, in Scotland, a radical left-wing option. SLA says that it will register “Scottish Left Alternative” with the electoral Commission – a name which could have been available to a new Left party and others who wish to be under that umbrella, seeking to stand in May 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.
In the same issue of SLR, Revolutionary Socialist RS21 claimed to have led the way in getting something off the ground in Scotland with a meeting called in Glasgow in early September. Less driven by electoral concerns and more committed to building a network across different campaigns and trade unions, RS21 argued that one initiative might involve gathering grievances about everyday life under capitalism – surely a long-term project in its own right.
These represent two views of the role of the Party – electoral challenge or building a broad campaigning base.
The Communist Party of Britain was represented by Stephanie Martin who argued that the new party’s traction among sitting ex Labour and independent MPs makes this venture markedly different from previous attempts at a new left party. In her view PR in Scotland could help the new Party if its policies and community organising strategy are informed by class analysis. She expressed concern about “Liberal trends infecting some aspects of the left and trade union policy, particular in relation to women’s liberation, self ID and prostitution which would fail to attract working class voters in Scotland”. This would of course put her in opposition to both of the ex Labour MPs whose presence was considered to have made this venture different from previous attempts. There were also contributions from a Scottish Green and the Republican Socialist Platform.
Writing from the perspective of the Scottish Labour Campaign for Socialism, but in a personal capacity, I wrote that unlike in England, the left in Scotland and Wales have had other serious electoral options to the Labour Party. At one point, for example, the Scottish Socialist Party had 6 MSPs and currently the Scottish Green Party has 7 MSPs.
During and after the 2014 referendum, the Radical Independence Campaign and other groups offered alternatives to both Labour and the SNP. But realistically, even with the partial PR system in Scottish Parliamentary elections, there is little space for new left parties. (Professor John Curtice argues that many of those voting Green in Scotland would be likely to vote for a new left Party and beyond them, there is not a significant section of the population who might be won to voting for another left alternative.) This is unfortunately not true on the right. Witness the rise of Reform.
Given the recent performance of the Labour Leadership, as in previous periods in history, the Labour Party is being written off by many on the left as a vehicle for radical change. It is interesting to note, however, how difficult it has been historically to eradicate left influence in the Party, interesting but not surprising given the affiliation of largest trade unions.
During the Blair/Brown period the right must have assumed that they had forged New Labour in a way that couldn’t be overturned. But in 2010 when Brown resigned, it was Ed Miliband who won the leadership rather than the chosen, more neoliberal brother, David, thanks to union votes. Then in 2015 Jeremy Corbyn won. When offered a choice, Labour Party members did not respond in the way they were supposed to. In 2020 Starmer had to lie to get the votes of previous Corbyn supporters to win the leadership election.
In relation to that election, it’s fair to say that many Labour loyalists lacked any ideological underpinning to their membership – they just wanted the Labour Party to be successful and to many Starmer looked like a winner.
Consequently, the Labour Party is not an easy place for socialists to work in, but neither is its membership irredeemably right wing. It is worth noting that the Scottish Labour Party conference in 2025 took left positions on a number of issues including calling on the Labour government in Westminster to reverse cuts to the winter fuel allowance, and for Britain to “end all complicity with Israel’s crimes”.
James Shneider who was associated with the group round Corbyn described the possible constituency of the new Party as including asset-poor workers, downwardly mobile graduates and racialised people.
He admits that Labour under Corbyn’s leadership, did not mobilise within other movements, such as tenants’ groups. Based on my own experience at that time it was difficult to mobilise many of the new members who joined to vote for Corbyn on anything, because most of them did not attend meetings either online or in person. For the most part, the explosion in membership did not appear to come from people already active in other campaigns who brought that experience into the Labour Party. Instead, joining Corbyn’s Labour Party appeared to be a one-off political gesture that was the extent of their political engagement. According to ESRC funded research undertaken in 2017, only 7% of Labour Party members surveyed had attended a party meeting and only 10% had engaged in electoral activity like leafletting.
The worry must be that the same will happen with any new Party, if the basis of recruitment mirrors that of the Corbyn membership expansion. “Corbynism” was not a political movement. If the constituent groups described by Shneider have not been mobilised by existing campaigns dealing with their immediate concerns, like housing, it is difficult to believe they will look to a political party, even a radical political party, to achieve their campaigning goals, although they are, surely, more likely to vote for such a party.
The Labour Party, by contrast, was originally formed by people who were active in other organisations. Most obviously trade unions, but importantly the ILP which was itself made up of members recruited through on-the-ground campaigns on rents, school meals, land reform, votes for women etc. Its main electoral strength was initially in local government where its victories built the base for national interventions. Crucially all ILP activities were sustained by a shared vision of better, socialist world.
It looks unlikely now that there will be a new Left party in place in time for the Scottish elections, although if peace breaks out, as it now appears, there could still be a launch in November. In any case one or two left groups, including Scottish Left Alternative may put up candidates, but hardly with the vigour necessary to cause an electoral upset.
This offers the Scottish Labour Party the opportunity to win those disaffected by neo-liberal decay by producing a radical manifesto that would address the main concerns of the Scottish people – the Health service, Care, Housing and the Cost of Living, but such is the leadership’s subservience to Starmer’s prospectus that Scottish Labour seems to have given up trying to win votes.
So, while we wait for Starmer to go – probably removed by the right worried about saving their seats - we must ensure that there is an alternative left strategy being constructed. It must be committed to rebuilding our links with activists campaigning on the environment, housing, disability rights, international issues and much more and bring their ideas into the Labour Party to promote those campaigns. Importantly, the Party’s links with trade unions should not be left to the whims of trade union leaders but should be reinvigorated at the rank-and-file level.
While we still have MPs, MSPs, local councillors and members prepared to stand up to the leadership, and fight for a socialist alternative, I believe there is hope.
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