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Support for Driscoll as an independent shows socialism is still alive and well
The current consensual party politics is ripe for smashing, but how can we go about it? CHELLEY RYAN has some ideas
Mayor of North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll
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WHEN Jamie Driscoll was unjustly blocked by Stalin’s — sorry, I mean Starmer’s — Labour Party from the North East mayoralty, he could have shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
Thankfully, he hasn’t. He’s resigned from the Labour Party and put himself forward as an independent candidate on one condition — he raises £25,000 by the end of August. That was Driscoll’s way of putting his finger on the pulse of public opinion.
The premise was simple; if the public wanted him to stand, that target would be met. If they didn’t, it would fall short and that would be that.
Guess what happened next. You’re going to love this … the many rallied, and that meant the “£25k by August” target was surpassed after less than two hours and at my last time of checking just two days after the initial target was set, 4.6k donors have raised over £93,000 towards Driscoll’s ultimate £150,000 campaign fund, which is the level of funding needed to stand any chance of going toe to toe with the political Goliath of the Labour Party.
Public opinion is more a loud beating heartbeat than a thready, apathetic pulse ready to be snuffed out.
What this heartwarming story tells us is the hegemony of current consensual party politics is ripe for smashing.
The Corbyn era ripped the scales from millions of eyes and voters are less convinced than ever that the rigged status quo which only benefits the rich and powerful, can’t be challenged.
And I believe a loose federation of independent Labour candidates could be our way to smash it.
When I suggested this on Twitter, someone protested over the use of the word Labour given how toxic the Labour Party is to many on the left.
I respectfully disagree. We should reclaim the word Labour from the current neoliberal cabal of Tories in red ties and dresses.
Keir Hardie, a socialist, was the founder of the Labour Party. Keir Starmer — or Sir Kid Starver as he’s currently known — doesn’t deserve to be in the Labour Party, let alone lead it.
So let’s reclaim the Labour brand for Keir Hardie and all the brave, working-class visionaries who recognised the need for working-class representation in Parliament.
That need hasn’t gone away and with climate change and growing inequality shattering the lives and life chances of ordinary struggling people at home and abroad, it’s arguably more needed than ever.
A loose federation of Labour independents is a moving target for the haters. Each independent can have their own manifesto tailored to their own constituency.
A party is less nimble. Each independent can crowdfund Jamie Driscoll-style. Yet another new party on the left will be unlikely to generate the level of excitement each independent will generate on announcement of their candidacy.
If Driscoll has raised £93,000 in less than two days, imagine what Jeremy Corbyn would raise if he stood as an independent, for example! Same with Diane Abbott.
Records would be set and smashed. The excitement would snowball. The result could be several independent socialists in Parliament putting forward a much-needed alternative to the current Tory/Labour coalition.
I am under no illusions that a federation of independent Labour candidates would threaten Labour enough to steer them more to the left.
However after Labour win the next general election — which is a very likely outcome — and little to nothing of real significance changes for working-class people, those independent socialist voices would be the only voices of hope in Parliament and more and more people will be inspired by them and want what they are offering.
Possibly at this juncture a new party would be the next right step in time for the next election.
People are crying out for change. Under our first past the post system, they have little choice. They live under a sham of a democracy where you can vote for Blue Tories, Yellow Tories or Red Tories.
They get fed up with the blue team so they vote for the red one and vice versa, with very little fundamentally changing either way.
A federation of independent Labour candidates would give them a real choice again and the many will rally to make sure of it!
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