Your Party members told to stop waiting for orders from above, push democracy from the ground up

A statement the Canary has seen from the Platform for a Democratic Party praises the democratic gains at last weekend’s Your Party conference, but calls on members ‘not to wait for instructions from above’.

Speaking about the conference, it says:

overall it was a success for socialists, despite many problems and even obstacles encountered by members and supporters.

It mentions Zarah Sultana’s “massively successful fringe meeting on the Friday night”, at which Platform speakers Ian Hodson and Audrey White “hammered home the importance of transparency, democracy and accountability in the new party”.

While criticising some features of the conference that restricted completely open debate, the statement hails strong member votes on socialism, a working-class focus, an anti-discrimination commitment, dual membership, and collective leadership. It laments, however, that “hundreds of amendments submitted by members never saw the light of day” and that there was too little time for “the voice of the rank and file to be heard”.

It adds that:

the task which faces us all is to carry out the conference decisions decisively and urgently

Your Party—”Don’t wait any longer for instructions from above!”

The statement asserts that:

The democratic gains on the conference floor must now be genuinely reflected in the party’s day-to-day life, rather than remaining merely words on paper. YP’s commitment to socialist ideas needs to be developed and connected with the struggles of today through consistent engagement with grassroots work as well as being reflected in the party’s election campaigns, social media and written material.

And it gives “five main priorities which we urge YP members to engage with”, including:

1. Urgently establishing local strong, independent and democratically organised branches early next year, based on existing proto branches and local Alliances
2. These branches must forge a clear and strong local identity, campaigning on issues relevant to the local working class, grounded in real struggles on the streets and workplaces.
3. Branches must prepare for the local elections in May 2026 alongside the Scottish and Welsh Holyrood and Senedd elections.
4. Mobilise for the ‘We are Together’ national march against the far right on 28th March with a strong block of thousands of YP supporters
5. Ahead of the party’s upcoming Central Executive Committee elections, we support forming a joint, democratic, socialist slate of candidates to maintain, consolidate, and expand on the gains won by the rank-and-file.

It finishes by stressing:

Don’t wait any longer for instructions from above! History weighs heavily on our shoulders and we have to ensure we do all we can to build a party that can set about the task of confronting the far right and building a mass membership capable of replacing Labour as the real voice of the working class.

The Platform initially sent an open letter in September, signed by “community and union activists including filmmaker Ken Loach, union leader Ian Hodson, Liverpool legend Audrey White, Jewish activist Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, and more’. This called for “democratic participation” to be at the core of Your Party.

Featured image via ChronicleLive