YOUR PARTY now has the chance to make a fresh start following the conclusion of the election to its first central executive committee, the party’s collective leadership.

The poll saw supporters of the slate backed by Jeremy Corbyn secure a clear majority, meaning Corbyn will be named the new left party’s parliamentary leader.

He rightly called the result a vote “for a mass, socialist party that takes the fight to Starmer and Farage.”

He added that the party now has “a precious opportunity to unite our movement around a bold vision for this country — one that creates a more caring, equal and peaceful world for all.

“Together, we can provide hope to those who are fed up with inequality, disempowered by poverty and disgusted by war — and build a society that cares for all,” he said.

That was certainly the original vision for the party when it was first launched by Corbyn and fellow MP Zarah Sultana last summer. 

It has, however, spent the intervening months systematically burning through the enormous initial goodwill their announcement secured, to the point where its viability as more than a marginal force in political life may be questioned.

The Green Party under Zack Polanski’s dynamic and more left-wing leadership, has filled much of the huge gap Corbyn and Sultana identified. 

Many of the local campaigners taking the fight to Labour from the left in their constituencies have also walked away or kept their distance because of the endless infighting.

The necessary break in the Parliamentary Labour Party has not, beyond Sultana herself, happened. Those left MPs who backed Corbyn to the hilt when he was leader of the Labour Party have not got behind him in his new venture.

Nor has any significant trade union support yet been won. The party has attracted criticism for exclusions and arbitrary, super-centralised decision-making.

All this presents a mountain to be climbed if Your Party is to recover.

A genuine reconciliation between Corbyn and Sultana would be the surest basis for beginning the climb. There have been grievous mistakes made all round over the last six months or so, but they must now be left behind in the interests of serving the greater cause in which so many have invested their hopes.

Corbyn, as parliamentary leader, should seek to harness the talents and popularity of Sultana who is, after himself, its most prominent figure.

An effort to rebuild bridges burnt should also be made with those local leaders alienated in many parts of Britain, as well as independent MPs who have walked away. That includes reconciling with the Muslim community, an immediate potential reservoir of electoral support, but damaged by the divisive and unnecessary row over “social conservatism” last year.

Devising a serious electoral strategy, which would entail an understanding with the Greens, and focusing on those seats where Your Party is better placed than Polanski’s party, as well as blocking the advance of Reform and the far right is urgent. Co-operation by the two parties in the Commons could help drive that.

The party is also overdue a serious strategic discussion on how it seeks to open up the path to socialism, what class forces it seeks to unite and mobilise and how, and how it will relate to the mass movements for change which have always been the well-spring of Corbynism.

That vital debate has been neglected in all the disputes and divisions, as well as the priority given to wrangling over a constitution.

Can all this be done? Optimism cannot be more than very guarded at present. There is no second chance to make a first impression, but a constructive contribution to the developing front of struggle against austerity, fascism and war is within Your Party’s reach.