The need for control and ownership: two things the left can’t afford

Over the weekend, we had a timely reminder for why we need to break the top-down model long held in our democracy, pushing instead for bottom-up politics where our leaders are informed by and responsible to the members of the grassroots organising groups popping up across the country. We also saw a clear, real-time example of the power that ordinary people can have in holding leadership to account, seen in the statement put together through Transform’s network of allied community groups, resulting in a change of rhetoric from Your Party co-leader, Zarah Sultana.

It is clear that leadership have been at odds with each other, seemingly due to a lack of collaboration, communication and transparency, instead busy playing tug of war politics. In contrast, groups across the country shared their concerns together, often with differing views as to who was ultimately responsible, but all united in their call for the leadership to be grown-ups, sit around the table and talk to each other, with respect and integrity.

Your Party: a microcosm of top-down versus bottom-up politics

This breakdown in relations at leadership and executive level, responded to by a show of local and collective leadership, reaffirms why such a mass movement is so crucial for safeguarding our democracy. Decentralising power, instead spreading it across the mass membership of this movement, is the only way that top-down corruption or abuse of power can be prevented.

The Sortition Foundation, which champions citizen assemblies, says:

Citizens’ assemblies are an innovative and powerful way to make political decisions. They break the hold of career politicians on decisions, and bypass the powerful vested interests that often exert undue influence on policy outcomes.

Most groups on the ground are engaging in this process in the spirit of inclusion, diversity, respect and understanding. There is no gatekeeper mechanism deciding who is allowed to get involved, speak or organise in the movement, but instead determined by respectful, collaborative working to focus attention on local issues and actions, discuss national issues, and setting expectations as a collective. This is fostered through an ethos of listening to understand, rather than to respond, ensuring all topics can be discussed and all voices can be heard.

However, the same tired battle seen at leadership level is also one we can see at grassroots; one of ownership and control.

Gatekeeping stifles local organising

For example, one northern red-wall town has shown that these age-old instincts to dominate and control the political discussion will stifle local organising. One member’s personal views of who should be allowed in and which perspectives, largely influenced by destructive identity and personality politics of the right, has led to a gatekeeper effect. This has left many feeling excluded and unable to engage with this person, as when there is disagreement, instead of working to understand others’ differences, it has led to repeated messages making others feel harassed and intimidated.

This has resulted in two separate pages for Your Party organising, and one member arranging a public meeting without collaboration from other local socialist activists, resulting in currently only one person confirmed to attend the first public meeting for their town. When this issue was confronted, requesting a more collaborative and inclusive approach to organising, the response received was that politics was ‘nasty’ and if they don’t like it, they shouldn’t be in politics.

This clearly is not sustainable for a mass-membership party of the working class, and will only provide further ammunition for the far-right to diminish the effectiveness of socialism. This movement cannot be about dominating the conversation, but about facilitating discussion and debate, to understand issues from a variety of perspectives.

Couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery

At a time when every member is deeply concerned about the threat of Reform and the far-right, this lack of cohesion at a local level must be prevented, particularly in areas of high deprivation and inequality where ordinary people are left feeling forgotten, disenfranchised and demoralised.

These voters are prime for Reform’s deliberate incitement of that anger, despite there being no real solutions offered by Reform to tackle these systemic issues in our society. Your Party has an opportunity to engage with these voters on a personal level, in their communities, alongside their neighbours and fellow citizens, to offer the very real solutions that only socialism can provide.

On the ground, parish councils are facing a potentially huge increase in Reform councillors, due to the policy of hiding their party allegiance, instead standing as Independents ‘concerned about their community’.

In Culcheth, a parish council in Warrington North, Independent borough councillor Neil Johnson has chosen to personally attack other elected representatives on other parish councils, causing considerable anxiety and fear for other candidates. This has led to a local parish election with no left-wing candidate on the ballot, with even right-wing Labour deciding not to stand a candidate due to the fear of harassment.

So how do we fix it?

Ultimately, it is important to remember that the true leaders of this movement are the communities that empower the party, itself. Until communities elect local leaders, if they choose to do so, there should be no single person or entity gatekeeping or dictating what must be believed in order to come to a public meeting. Instead, it should be centred on the values and principles inherent to a socialist movement; compassion, understanding, equality and respect.

If we can’t respect others by hearing their perspective, we cannot expect others to hear our own with that same respect. We must learn from what has come before us, and what we are witnessing now in our divisive, polarised politics; hate breeds hate, distrust breeds distrust. Whereas, if Your Party leads with respect and compassion, we are more likely to foster that in communities up and down the country, taking oxygen away from the fire that Reform are working hard at setting alight.

It is exactly this broken, abusive and aggressive style of politics that needs to be consigned to the past. Playground antics and bullying have become normalised, notably since David Cameron’s debate with Ed Miliband in 2015, growing increasingly more abusive every year since.

It could be argued that this rhetoric has opened the door to the far-right and the assumed mentality that ‘might is right’, further mirrored by Trump, Musk, Netanyahu and other far-right actors. In order to close that door, Your Party groups, and its leadership, must provide the antidote through collective, democratic ownership of this new socialist party, strengthening respect and compassion in our communities through active listening to understand people’s anger; not shut them out.

Feature image via Official Jeremy Corbyn Channel/Youtube.