A well-attended on-line meeting on 21st July heard from both former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana who resigned from the Labour Party and declared for a new left party two weeks ago. Corbyn described ongoing discussions on the politics and structure of a new party. Whilst his comments fell short of a declaration that the “new party” was imminent, his tone and language was positive and he clearly indicated that an alternative political voice for working class people would be in place for the next local elections in May 2026.
The meeting was organised by “Trade Unionists for a New Party”, an initiative of the Trades Unionist and Socialist Coalition, and was endorsed and publicised Collective, the wider umbrella group which is discussing the creation of new political voice. The specific purpose was to discuss the role that trade unions and trade unionists can play in the creation of a new worker’s party.
More than 900 attended the Zoom meeting with hundreds more attending on Facebook. The meeting was trailed as the first meeting of many. Of those who attended, 97% belonged to a trade union. Members of more than 40 unions were present, including from 9 of the 11 unions affiliated to Labour.
Dave Nellist (previously a MP and TUSC) chaired the meeting and stressed the need for a new worker’s party. He remarked on recent polls that show support of between 10% and 18% for a new worker’s party. Dave stressed the need for unions to be central to the project and for those on the call to get involved, setting up regional meetings.
Suzanne Muna (UNITE NEC) described the UNITE conference where a motion to review its connection to the Labour Party was passed by the 800 delegates with only 5 abstentions. She stressed the fact that younger trade unionists don’t have the same loyalty to Labour as older members and described the incredible vibrancy of the conference. She stressed that fact that a rules conference will have to be called in order to proceed with the motion and the need for Unite members to push for this.
Marco Tesei (UCU NEC) talked about non-affiliated unions waking up to the fact that they need a political voice and that the rank and file should demand this and push the tops of the unions to get out of the way. Initially they should work with independent MPs and others to build for the future. These sentiments were echoed by Sheila Caffrey (NEU NEC).
Katrine Williams (Cardiff TUC) spoke of how trades councils could call regional meetings to discuss the need for a political voice for the working class and described the process towards this in Wales.
Len McCluskey (former UNITE General Secretary) was unable to join the call for technical reasons but sent a message offering his full support.
Jeremy Corbyn described how the Independent Alliance of MPs is now working with Zarah Sultana and clearly outlined the need for a new political party. He said that he had been consulting on policies and that the new party would need to be based around peace, public ownership, redistribution and workers’ rights. He emphasised the importance of being “rooted in communities” the role of trade union members and the political left.
He referred to the manifesto that was drafted under his leadership when Labour attracted 600,000 members-the membership now is around 200,000. He asked the meeting to be hopeful, optimistic and inclusive. “We will launch quickly” he said and that by next May there would be a new organisation under a common banner. He asked those present to, “stand with the oppressed not the oppressor… our new party can achieve that”. This was a clear reference to a new party and the need to build it soon and this was welcomed by the meeting. He also suggested that the new party would listen to the views of as many people as possible in its journey to formation.
Zarah Sultana reinforced these ideas. She said the new party should be rooted in trade unions. She said a new party should be built around the working class. A founding conference should be open to all and for all to listen. She said we should work for a socialist, pluralistic, and that inclusivity should be at the heart of decision making. She argued that whilst the polls showed 10 -15 % support for such a party but we should be aiming for more. She detailed the success of Zohran Mamdani in the New York Mayoral primaries as an example of taking on the establishment.
This was an encouraging meeting and having Corbyn and Sultana in the same call with a broadly similar message is encouraging. The attendance of more than 1000 trade unionists was also a major step in the fight for a new party. The proposal to organise local, regional and trade union-based meetings is welcome and will add further momentum to the drive towards a new party. Let’s fight in our unions and trades councils and communities for a break with Labour and a new socialist party of the working class.
