WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports on what could be a pivotal few weeks for three parties ostensibly to the left of Croydon politics
Your Party in Croydon faces its biggest test yet next week, as it stages its first big meeting with one of the new, leftist party’s co-leaders, MP Zarah Sultana.
New hope: how Your Party is promoting Zarah Sultana’s appearance in Croydon next week
The party which Sultana has founded alongside former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has hit a few bumps in the road since the organisation announced its existence in the summer, with a membership drive that was launched and then suspended amid recriminations between various groups.
Progress towards a national convention, to agree party rules and constitution, and even a proper name, has been less-than-smooth. Even a series of regional conferences has not been without some issues, with attendances at each session limited to 500 people, and south London’s session being announced as being staged in a place called Pcekham.
There’s even been a suggestion that the formation of the party, despite the initial tidal wave of support, with 80,000 signing up within a few days, is taking too long to harness the initial enthusiasm with candidate selections for next May’s local elections.
No decision has been taken yet in Croydon, for example, over whether Your Party – or whatever they might be calling themselves by then – will even have a candidate for executive Mayor in May 2026.
Membership gains: the Greens’ membership has doubled in just a few weeks
While all this has been going on, the Green Party has managed to elect a radical new leader in Zack Polanski and seen its number of paid members double in little more than a month, overtaking the membership tallies of the LibDems and even the Tories.
Why is this important? Because more members means more subs, which means more money for campaigning, digitally and with old-school leaflets, and also more willing activists to go out and deliver those leaflets to establish vital recognition of candidates ahead of elections.
A senior Green Party figure in Croydon says that the national surge in membership has been replicated in Croydon, where the Greens elected their first two councillors in 2022 and where they are expected to pick up more council seats in Fairfield and South Norwood wards in 2026.
“Membership is going through the roof,” our source says.
“We are now holding weekly welcome meetings to keep up to date and offer training for the many roles needed. It’s encouraging that many new members want to be active and have a wide variety of skills that are taking our campaign to the next level.
“What we now have is boots on the ground and the back-up to make a serious challenge across Croydon.”
Labour, meanwhile, is losing members, some joining the Greens, others looking to see what develops with the Corbyn-Sultana Your Party. The loss of activists in Croydon has seen a pause in the party’s announcement of its council candidates which has been caused, it is suggested, by a lack of willing volunteers to put their names on the ballot papers even as “paper candidates” in unwinnable wards.
And it is another reason why next week’s meeting with Zarah Sultana could be pivotal for three parties ostensibly on the left of Croydon politics.
The Sultana meeting at Ruskin House next Wednesday, October 29, is free to attend, though the organisers are asking for a £5 donation, and the event is open to all, whether they are politically affiliated or not.
The national conference on November 29 and 30 in Liverpool “will formally set the party up and we in Croydon will be able to seriously consider standing candidates in some wards next May”, a Your Party source in Croydon said today.
“Some wards”: there was the suggestion at an earlier meeting that Your Party would avoid standing in areas where the Greens are well-organised. It also remains a possibility that they will not put up a candidate for executive Mayor against the Greens’ Peter Underwood.
Inside Croydon has interviewed Jeremy Corbyn, co-founder of Your Party, about its aims and objectives, how he sees it being organised from the grassroots up, the 2026 local elections, and he talks frankly about his final days in the Labour Party. Our interview has been followed up by the national press. - If you haven’t already, click here to listen. It is behind a paywall, or FREE if you are a paying subscriber to Inside Croydon
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