{"id":46845,"date":"2025-11-28T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redpepper.org.uk\/?p=46845"},"modified":"2025-12-05T16:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T16:03:09","slug":"your-party-our-roots-and-branches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redpepper.org.uk\/political-parties-and-ideologies\/socialism\/your-party-our-roots-and-branches\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Party, our roots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Your Party has had a rocky beginning, with public fall-outs<\/a> and serious political disagreements marring the process of formation. Despite a frustrating lack of leadership, local members have been acting independently, organising meetings of proto-branches to get the party off the ground. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t headline-grabbing work, but it could shape the party\u2019s organising in the long term. Whatever the future of the Party, these initiatives have also made an intervention into debates about what kind of party the working class needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisers I spoke to emphasised that such a party should be bringing together diverse struggles against the system. Their perspectives chime with Salar Mohandesi<\/a>\u2019s argument that a socialist party should be seen as an \u2018articulator\u2019 between existing struggles, which are constantly \u2018disarticulated\u2019 by the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, a party for the working class should build political consciousness and solidarity across movements that are separated from one another by repression and the legacies of defeat. This function, Mohandesi suggests, is profoundly different from winning elections and preparing a programme for government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roots into branches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because no national membership data<\/a> has been shared with local groups, organisers have resorted to old fashioned methods. A group in West London, covering Hammersmith, Chiswick, Fulham and Chelsea, have begun leafleting and holding public meetings. In Tower Hamlets, organisers leafleted for a proto-branch meeting a few minutes down the road from the abandoned Labour Party constituency office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter, from the West London group, told me, \u2018we have deliberately tried not to focus on the problems of the leadership and instead keep things local and build up an organisation \u2013 that\u2019s the best thing we can be doing\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Stoke<\/a>, activists have initiated \u2018listening exercises\u2019: open-ended conversations held on the doorstep, intended to investigate local priorities and concerns. Jonas tells me, \u2018we\u2019re finding these a really great way to get people involved who aren\u2019t necessarily interested in the process of [party] formation, but are interested in doing more outward-looking work\u2019. The grassroots group is planning for a regional founding assembly before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solidarity beyond the ballot box<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Local proto-branches are also organising in connection with existing community groups and campaigns. In Kirklees, activists joined with the People\u2019s Alliance for Change and Equality (PACE<\/a>), for a rally focused on local speakers from trade unions and community campaigns. Matt from PACE explained that the rally built on a successful campaign to prevent the closure of a local hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Leyton and Wanstead<\/a>, group members hosted a speaker from the RMT<\/a> fighting deportations while in Tower Hamlets, Your Party supporters mobilised to join a demonstration against the far right. On the basis of these actions, struggles against austerity, racism and fascism are being woven into the everyday activity of the party, from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Your Party survives, its leadership must consider how to balance electoral campaigning with \u2018articulating\u2019 a broader social movement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, many groups have set up across electoral boundaries and with little reference to local elections upcoming in May 2026. In West London, Peter expressed his hope that \u2018people will be able to choose to be a part of whichever local, or workplace, branch suits their organising best\u2019, rather than being confined by postcode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, in Stoke, Jonas suggested that organising meetings should bring people together based on their immediate area but also connect activists across the region. Meanwhile, in Kirklees, the PACE\/Your Party group plans to target key councillors\u2019 seats to agitate around issues, rather than run a full slate of candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A broader social movement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although cautious, everyone I spoke to was excited by the experience of bringing new people into the movement. For PACE\u2019s Matt, this a \u2018crucial moment where people are beginning to grasp how to campaign \u2013 it\u2019s giving people belief\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others emphasise longer-term prospects. Jonas feels that sometimes \u2018you have to walk with people when you want to run\u2019. Peter likewise stressed that the Party won\u2019t be fully formed for a while, suggesting that \u2018next year we\u2019ll be in a really good position to evaluate progress and say what changes need to take place\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the country, activists are showing creativity and initiative, bringing people together in ways that hint at what could be achieved with greater coordination and resources. The lack of central direction has inadvertently shown that the grassroots are ready to lead the party, politically and organisationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Your Party survives, its leadership must consider how to balance electoral campaigning with \u2018articulating\u2019 a broader social movement \u2013 the preferred option for many highly active grassroots members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the chance, local activists can lead the party into the heart of existing working-class struggles across the country, and help to spark new movements. That organising can only happen if branches are given sufficient autonomy to respond to local conditions and learn from each other across the movement, subordinating short-term electoral success to the long-term struggle of rebuilding the socialist movement from below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Away from the Your Party inaugural conference, its seeds are growing into roots across the UK. John Stephens reports on the branch members forging their own paths to action<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":46862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2269,315,2529],"tags":[3154],"class_list":["post-46845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-democracy","category-labour-party","category-socialism","tag-john-stephens"],"yoast_head":"\nYour Party, our roots - Red Pepper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Stephens reports on the branch members forging their own paths to action in the run-up to 'Your Party's inaugural conference\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redpepper.org.uk\/political-parties-and-ideologies\/socialism\/your-party-our-roots-and-branches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your Party, our roots - 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