Transform was officially founded in Nottingham in November 2023, bringing together members from existing organisations, principally the Breakthrough Party, Left Unity, and Liverpool Community Independents, into a new party. Last Saturday, it held its second conference in London. Approximately 100 delegates attended, representing an official membership of 800. Some members of ACR played an active role in Transform and attended as delegates. We also ran a stall with some of our materials. The ACR was the only left organisation to do this. Below, we republish Transform’s own report on its conference, taken from their website.

A Positive and Inclusive Gathering

“I found the event very positive overall and we were able to have good discussions with a number of the comrades attending.”

Most of the conference was open to anyone who wished to participate, with space for questions and discussions both in the plenary debate on the Future of the Left and in the afternoon workshops addressing Palestine, the anti-fascist struggle, the housing crisis, and women in politics. This non-sectarian approach is a refreshing change from the practice of larger left groups that often tightly control any input from ‘opponent’ groups.

Realism Over Optimism

“There was no artificial bravado or boosterism from the platform.”

It was acknowledged that in the excitement of establishing a party aiming to challenge Labour, there may have been some illusions regarding how quickly this could be achieved. Ultimately, Transform stood a few candidates but mainly supported other left independents in the General Election. It produced a recommended Left List of candidates that correctly omitted representatives from Galloway’s toxic red/brown party.

Collaboration and Democratic Organisation

Today, Transform is actively collaborating with the Collective initiative. Pamela Fitzpatrick, closely involved in this effort, spoke from the platform. Although there are still some questions about how this initiative operates, Pam made clear that it did not want a party controlled by personalities or through a cartel of left political apparatuses. She emphasised, and this was reinforced by the Transform speakers, the need for democratic internal organisation. Indeed, there was an appreciative murmur in the audience when someone mentioned that any new party should not go into a ‘waiting for Jeremy (Corbyn) mode’.

Future Directions and Challenges

Going forward, the discussion continues with three broad options:

1. Building an Independent Transform: Challenging electorally, reflecting some doubts about the Collective process.
2. Local Movement Focus: Building the movement locally with other left activists before prematurely proclaiming a new party.
3. Collaborative Formation: Strengthening local left networks while collaborating with Collective to form a new party, potentially in Spring 2025.

Of course, the timetable could slip, and given the volatility of British politics, it is difficult to envisage all possible scenarios. Who predicted the general election success of Corbyn, the rise of left independents, or the breakthrough of the Green Party?

The Role of Ecosocialism

Although one of Transform’s ten principles includes a commitment to ecosocialism, the platform speakers and workshops did not strongly reflect this position. Later, in the members’ discussion of motions, there was some debate on ecological issues like free public transport and other green topics. It is challenging to see a broad mass party emerge with real traction unless it positions itself firmly within an ecosocialist space. People mobilise as much on green issues today as they do around Palestine, wages, or anti-austerity struggles. Ex-Corbyn supporters have been leaving Labour and joining the Greens in droves. Even Labour left stalwarts like Diane Abbott have raised the possibility of a Labour/Green alliance.

Addressing Identity and Class Politics

Several of us were concerned about how a couple of speakers addressed the issue of identity and politics. Audrey Wise, in particular, suggested that politics around identity was a way the ruling class tried to divide the working class. Hence, a working-class party will somehow seamlessly integrate all these issues of sex, gender, or race through its ‘class line’. Unfortunately, even revolutionary parties have struggled with these questions. Criticising Labour for tokenism—a tick-box quota approach—is one thing, but not addressing the specific issues of autonomy within any new party is quite another. Even Labour, for a time, had to accept the relative autonomy of the Black sections.

Avoiding Revolutionary Rigidities

Another trap to avoid, in my opinion, is being overly clear on the difference between a broad mass party and a revolutionary Marxist party. People can be won to left-of-Labour politics and class struggle actions without agreeing with revolutionary Marxists on the precise nature of the state, forms of socialist democracy, or views on state repression and the use of force. My memory of Left Unity includes having absurd conference discussions about workers’ militias and other arcane points of Marxist theory. Such an approach is often associated with small left apparatuses that may join this project on a recruitment mission.

Embracing Proportional Representation

Another reason for avoiding rigid revolutionary stances is that, despite the unlikely repeat of the Corbyn surge inside Labour, there are still thousands of good socialists within the party that a new broad party should aim to win over. Abstractly denouncing the false reformism of Labour and telling them to join the revolutionary socialists is not very productive. If it were, the Socialist Workers Party would be leading a serious mass party challenging Labour’s hegemony by now. A new left party needs to focus not just on living struggles and campaigns but also on what is moving to the left within Labour or the Greens.

Any new party should also campaign for proportional representation. I looked on the website and could not find any reference to this democratic demand—perhaps there has been some policy decision on this. PR could be a tool to amplify the space for left politics. All people’s votes should count, and the big parties’ cynicism in blocking this democratic change has to be challenged.

A Successful Step Forward

Overall, the conference was a success. Transform has real roots in mass activity in several areas. Its contribution within the Collective project could help establish something on a democratic basis. ACR will continue to collaborate with these comrades.

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Report from the Transform website

The Mahatma Gandhi Hall in London’s Indian YMCA was the scene for Transform’s second annual conference. To minimise risk of airborne infection, HEPA air filters had been hired for the occasion. Transform members were joined by allies and supporters, including Khalid Sadur, a parliamentary candidate in Edmonton earlier this year who is currently standing
in the upcoming Jubilee Ward by-election; Fiona Lali who stood in Stratford and Bow; and Andrew Burgin, a national officer of Left Unity.

Alan Gibbons laid out the political context. He’d predicted that Starmer’s government would find itself in crisis within 18 months. No one was expecting that the government would become engulfed in crisis within two weeks of winning office. This has created a political void, and we should take the threat from the far right very seriously.

In the Future of the Left session, the platform speakers were in agreement that a new mass party of the Left was an urgent necessity. Solma Ahmed was emphatic: Doing nothing is not an option. We can’t afford to be timid, to “wait and see”. Audrey White argued that “whatever new party or movement we’re building in this country should be the genuine party of Free Speech in the UK”. Pamela Fitzpatrick confirmed that the talks within Collective were aimed at setting up a new party early next year (which wouldn’t necessarily be called Collective). Anwarul Khan pointed out that the programmatic differences between many left groups weren’t that great: the main barriers to unity are barriers of attitude. Transform members still have many questions about Collective, but forums like this are very valuable.

The journalist Matt Kennard opened the afternoon’s proceedings with a blistering attack on British politicians. They’re not just complicit, in the Gaza genocide, he argued, they’re participants – and he has the receipts to show it. “The key role they play is an intelligence and logistics role, and none of it is covered by our media.”

We then broke up into workshops for discussion on issues ranging from the Renters Rights Bill to Women in Politics. The conversations were free-ranging and full of insights, with most people chipping in.

Policy sessions rounded the day off. It was a varied and interesting programme, and the feedback that we’ve had has been positive. It was a day for connecting with people face to face after months of Zoom calls; also a day to remind us that we’re part of a wider movement, and that we all have to find ways of working together, because we are living in dangerous times.

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