The Majority conference in Newcastle showed there is hope for the future

You know when you have one of those moments that sticks with you? It was the Majority Conference recently in Newcastle.

I’d just got back to the venue, the impressive Great Hall in the Discovery Museum. The hall was filling up. All the volunteers in their Majority T-shirts. The high-quality slides and audio-visuals. Just the buzz, that a great event was pulled together in just six weeks by a 100% volunteer organisation.

Majority Conference: no egos, no power grabs

A mix of inspirational speeches, interviews, table discussions, and lots of practical training on how to get things done. People volunteering to step up and take on roles. Putting themselves forward as candidates. The whole team was uplifted, all being part of creating a success. No egos, no huffs, no power grabs. A model of teamwork.

We’re gearing up to contest next May’s local elections. We covered how we’ll be running in Newcastle and the rest of the North East. We’re building around the country, too.

We got a lot of coverage, including the BBC and the Guardian. They have a habit of calling it Jamie Driscoll’s Majority Party. The coverage is good, but incorrect on both counts.

It’s not Jamie Driscoll’s. I don’t own it, not the way Reform was a company owned by Farage, or in any other way. Nor do I control it. We’re completely democratic. In fact, every year, the entire membership votes on whether they want to boot out the current leader and elect a new one. I’m not aware of any other political organisation that gives their members such power.

Members get to vote on all key decisions, and have freedom to self-organise. My job as elected leader is half general secretary, managing resources, and half a chief training officer, empowering members and sharing my experience.

A platform to build progressive alliances, not a political party in the conventional sense

Majority is not a party, either. At least not as people usually understand it. The organisation that people join is a social movement, not a registered political party. No one has to leave their current party to join us. So long as you agree with our political values statement, you’re welcome.

There is a separate legal entity that is Majority the political party. We set that up, after discussions with the Electoral Commission, so we can run candidates as Majority if we wish. Or we can back Greens, or independents, or, when it’s ready, Your Party.

Our constitution commits us to seeking progressive alliances. Independent Holly Waddell who previously took a seat of the Tories in Northumberland, and the Green Party’s Sarah Peters who took a seat from Labour, both spoke at the conference. Two young women who stepped up, and got Majority support.

That’s the key. How do you build an organisation that people want to give their time to? It’s not enough to have a party where people think, “Well, I suppose they’re not as bad as the rest”. Without passionate volunteers, you need rich donors to pay the staff. If you need rich donors, you can never truly represent the people who vote for you.

Majority conference members ready to help shape ‘Your Party’

As Your Party takes shape, many of our members will be shaping it. I know I will. I’ll be arguing that to stop a far-right government in this country, we need a progressive alliance. We need radical grassroots democracy. We’re showing it can work.

Some say progressives need to build a social movement. Some say the focus should be on electoral politics. Why can’t it be both? In fact, how can it not be both? Without a broad base in society, we only represent ourselves. We won’t win against big money unless we’re embedded in communities. And without electoral success, how will we change public policy to serve the interests of the many and not the few? Citizens’ assemblies are great place to start.

So many people joined Labour, and went to their first meeting thinking, “Will we be talking about the climate, I wonder, or perhaps the NHS?” Then got there, and someone sold them a raffle ticket. Then a long report from the officers. Then a long and repetitive debate about leaflets. Honestly, it’s less interesting than being at work. And no one got within a mile of making any meaningful decisions. People concluded, “If I am going to make no difference, I can do that much more efficiently at home”. If you want volunteers to step up, you must engage their emotions and their intellect.

Majority is fun. We have reading groups, where everyone gets to develop their ideas in a safe space. We have film clubs. We have very little admin. We’re out campaigning. Against austerity. Against racism. Against genocide. For a sustainable world for ourselves and our kids. And every member gets an equal say. One member, one vote.

Zarah Sultana’s standing ovation: a sign of what’s to come

Zarah Sultana was our keynote speaker at the Majority conference. The hall was so packed people were standing round the edges. Even the venue staff came to listen. She’s a charismatic speaker. She got a standing ovation.

But all she did was articulate what every person in that room, and millions across this country were already thinking. It’s about time Britain was run in the interests of its people, not billionaires.

If we can win in Newcastle in May’s all-out elections, the whole country will look to us and believe it can be done.

Featured image via the Canary