Big numbers, and some big figures from Croydon politics, are expected at Ruskin House next Tuesday, reports Political Editor WALTER CRONXITE
Anyone wanting to get themselves a seat had better turn up early at Ruskin House next Tuesday, when the tentatively named Your Party will have its first formal, open meeting in Croydon.
If even half that number sign up as members, it will comfortably become Britain’s largest political party.
So Cedar Hall is likely to be packed to the rafters for the meeting organised by the Croydon Assembly under the sub-heading: “The fight-back starts here!”
What form any such “fight-back” might take, like the party’s as yet undetermined name, is yet to be agreed, as Corbyn, Sultana and the Independent Alliance parliamentary group that includes four other MPs prepare for a first national conference “in autumn 2025”. Local elections across England, including Croydon and other London boroughs, are of course just nine months away.
In their joint announcement of the party, Corbyn and Sultana said: “The system is rigged when 4.5million children live in poverty in the sixth-richest country in the world.”
The party says that it wants to develop member-driven policies, having outlined “a fairly skeletal political vision”, based on principles of equality and peace. “We included public ownership, wealth taxes, investment in council housing, and support for Palestine,” Corbyn said this week.
The core idea is to involve constituents closely in local political directions and candidate selections.
Half-a-million supporters: Jeremy Corbyn is mobilising the masses
Such engagement, the party believes, will lead to the emergence of a new generation of “young, passionate, and ethically robust” people. Sultana and Corbyn described their aspiration as for “a new kind of political party, one that belongs to you”.
In an interview published yesterday by Tribune, Corbyn said: “650,000 people don’t sign up to a new project for no reason.
“They sign up because they have had enough. They’ve had enough of being made poorer while the rich get richer. They’ve had enough of rising water bills in return for burst pipes and sewage in our seas.
“They’ve had enough of making basic demands — like ensuring disabled people have enough support to live in dignity — and being ignored. They’ve had enough of being shut out of the decisions that affect their daily lives.
“You look at the problems facing society today: food banks are a major feature of life for thousands of people. Tenants in private sector flats are spending well over half their take-home pay. There’s massive levels of stress for people of all ages.
“When a government comes into office promising things will change, and then nothing does, something has to give. This energy has been pent up for a while, given that none of these issues are new.
‘Like watching a dam break’: the joint statement which has seen the project attract an outpouring of support
“Successive governments have refused to do anything about them.
“That is going to have a consequence — they are reaping what they have sowed.”
Corbyn described the launch of the party’s website as “like watching a dam break”, with people signing up for “a direction of travel they’ve been denied for so long: one that seeks to redistribute wealth and power”.
Polling has suggested that the new party could gain about 10% of the vote, damaging the electoral prospects of Labour and the Greens.
Hoped-for guest speakers for the event, due to start at 7.30pm on Tuesday, August 19, have not materialised (it is August, after all…), but those listed include representatives from trades unions, Disabled People Against Cuts, Black Lives Matter and Crystal Palace Friends of Palestine.
Top of the bill is Croydon Assembly’s David White, once an elected member of the GLC and hugely respected former veteran Labour Party official.
What might prove just as fascinating as anything any of the speakers might have to say is a spot of people watching, for past and present figures in Croydon’s Labour and Green parties particularly.
Perhaps, with an eye on those local elections next May, after Starmer’s Labour culled six sitting councillors, including four black women, the question raised will be whether they are attending just out of curiosity or with more serious intent.
Read more: Croydon Labour meeting bans the use of the word ‘Blairite’
Read more: Four black women among six councillors rejected by Labour
Read more: Mounting complaints of suspected fraud in Labour’s selections
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