IN CHILE’S presidential primary for the ruling coalition, Jeannette Jara, a member of Chile’s Communist Party and former Minister of Labour and long-time workers’ advocate, delivered a decisive victory — winning over 60 per cent of the vote and leaving behind both the technocratic centre-left and the collapsing post-transition liberal consensus.

Jara’s win represents more than just a personal triumph. It is a victory for the working class, a rare but clear affirmation of the fact that when a political project speaks plainly and directly to the material conditions of working people — it resonates.

Jara didn’t run on vague promises of modernisation or market-friendly “progressivism.” She ran on her record: securing the 40-hour workweek, delivering historic increases to the minimum wage in negotiation with the CUT, the Chile TUC, and driving forward a long overdue pension reform. In a region where so much “centre-left” governance has been characterised by concessions to capital and appeasement of the right, this was an unapologetic reassertion of the capital-labour contradiction as the core of political life.

And here’s the irony: none of these reforms were the priority of the dominant wing of the current government — the Frente Amplio, led by President Gabriel Boric. Once hailed as a generational shift, Boric’s coalition came to power riding a wave of social revolt, only to pivot sharply toward the old guard: the ex-Concentracion - a coalition of centre left parties also called Unity for Chile — and their familiar politics of elite consensus. 

Boric administration abandoned the street and turned to backroom deals with those who never intended to share power with the people.

Yet what little remains of Boric’s popularity today is largely due to the achievements of the Ministry of Labour — and those, in turn, are the work of Jeannette Jara.

A March 2025 poll made it plain: the most positively remembered aspect of the Boric government is the labour agenda. Not its constitutional process, not its dialogue with the right, but wages, working hours and pensions — delivered by a former union lawyer with deep ties to the Chilean workers’ movement.

This primary victory does not mean the struggle is over. Far from it. The far right, led by Jose Antonio Kast, remains a serious threat. The business media are already sharpening their knives, and Chile’s powerful elites won’t sit quietly while a labour candidate leads the race. But the terrain has shifted.

For the first time in years, the dominant voice within Chile’s official left comes not from neoliberal remnants or media-trained centrists, but from the world of labour. This opens the door to rebuild not just electoral momentum, but a genuine counter-hegemonic force rooted in class organisation and mass mobilisation.

And this matters beyond Chile. Across the world, including Britain, where labour movements are asking: what kind of left can actually represent the working class today? One that chases corporate approval and soft-focus slogans? Or one that delivers measurable improvements in the lives of working people and is willing to take on capital directly?

Jeannette Jara’s victory doesn’t answer that question definitively. But it’s a strong sign that class politics still has a pulse — and a future — if we’re brave enough to fight for it.

Leo Poblete Codutti is an Australian (of Latin American origin) trade union communications adviser and political writer based in Chile.