An intensely bitter and divisive internal election has just finished, a battle avidly followed by Labour and the Greens as the party spilled its guts out on social media. On a superficial level, and this is the narrative adopted by the mainstream media, it was a proxy battle between supporters of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, both of whom were jostling to become the preeminent force in the party, but there were many other, and I would argue, more significant layers to this contest.

First, the issue of internal democracy and transparency. For months, the party has been hobbled by unelected bureaucrats based around Corbyn refusing access to data and funds, resulting in many activists working in proto-branches (as under the constitution, official branches could not be established until after the CEC election) feeling stymied and shorn of resources.

With the local elections a couple of months away, those branches that wished to stand candidates (like mine in Southwark) were forced to register as independent local parties in the absence of a functioning CEC and a nominating officer to officially register YP candidates. This has certainly been the case in London, and I know from attending Your Party Connections meetings (representing grassroots proto-branches across England) that many have been unable to stand candidates because they don’t have access to members’ data or HQ resources.

The result is that the branches campaigning in the local elections have to be funded out of their own members’ pockets! The Grassroots Left slate promised to release the funds and data to the branches from day one, but that is now uncertain with The Many (linked to the current bureaucracy) having won the majority. It is of the utmost urgency, in terms of these elections, that data and funds are made available to proto-branches and that they are recognised.

The local elections in England (not to mention the Senedd elections in Cymru and the Scottish parliamentary elections) are the most significant elections before the general election expected in 2029. The fate of Starmer’s government depends on them.

It has also been clear that a top down model for the party, often characterised as Labour Mark 2, has been the shape which the party has taken with very little member involvement and a conference which far from being member led, gave members very little say in carefully selected motions and where chairs of sessions threatened to withdraw the microphone from anyone who criticised the leadership.

It was a chaotic form of Stalinism, and when those of us online saw a commotion in the hall, the feed was ended and replaced by soothing music, East German television style! The victory for the Many suggests that this form of party organisation and structure might continue.

Second, there were ideological differences. The GL slate made it clear that all socialists were welcome in the party, and although very few policies have been agreed upon yet by the party, Zarah Sultana called for a fully socialist economy, and there was more reluctance to form alliances with the Greens, whom many GL candidates regarded as a capitalist party. The Many, on the other hand, stressed unity and that all would be fine with Jeremy while using terminology that was clearly red baiting and sometimes descending into racist attacks on brown and black candidates from GL.

GL were clearly opposed to “social conservatism,” which includes transphobia, whereas The Many, especially the Independent MPs, clearly wanted a link with some Muslim socially conservative forces, which they justified on the grounds of forming a mass party “without purity tests”. I am concerned that with their victory, YP might tack towards becoming a second version of Respect, with all its associated problems.

The other issue is that Corbyn and The Many will be much more inclined to work with the Greens, but with their victory and the likelihood that YP will become a Left Social Democrat party, YP may have lost its USP. The Greens, who have surged in strength and attracted many who were repelled by the internecine struggles in YP, can now legitimately ask what the difference is between their party and YP.

Indeed, if the Greens vote at their spring conference to declare themselves a socialist party, it can be argued that there will barely be daylight between their position and that of Corbyn’s YP! With a far larger membership, resources, and the support of most of the Left media – Novara, Owen Jones, The Canary, etc. – they will be in a much stronger position going forward into the local elections and beyond.

Thirdly, there is the issue of potential purges. The revolutionary organisations in YP – SWP, Counterfire, Socialist Party, and ACR, could potentially be banned by the new Many-dominated CEC. This would hugely weaken the branches and remove a vital layer of activists, effectively destroying campaigning in many areas. However, this already happened during the CEC election, with even one SP candidate in the Southwest being removed from the ballot after he had received sufficient endorsements from members to stand.

There is also the possibility that the perception of a party that will, in essence, be a Social Democrat one will lead many socialist members to leave the party in disgust. The new CEC was given the power by the members’ vote to decide which parties and organisations could legitimately remain in the party, and the manner in which this is decided will be crucial for how many socialists perceive the party.

We are now into a very uncertain period for Your Party. Many activists are beavering away, preparing for the local elections in May. If the new CEC, instead of offering real support to the branches currently starved of funds and resources, concentrates on bureaucratic wrangling and purges, then it will be the end of the project.

The presence of GL members on the Executive and GL-aligned Independents guarantees that there will be pressure on the CEC to move forward and face outwards. Huge amounts of time have been wasted, and as Zarah Sultana frequently says, “Fascism is growling at the door.” This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a real mass party of the Left, and that chance must not be wasted!

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