WE’RE now less than a week away from a long-awaited general election which will have a decisive impact on the trajectory of the class struggle for the years to come.

The past five weeks of campaigning from the ruling-class political parties have confirmed what we already knew.

The policy “gulf” between Rishi Sunak’s Tories and Keir Starmer’s Labour is virtually non-existent. The ruling class is quite content with the prospect of a Starmer government.

The removal of the Tories after 14 years is to be welcomed — but the prospect of a Starmer government is no meaningful victory for working people in and of itself.

It would be easy to feel dismal faced with these facts. Indeed, that is exactly what the ruling class wants. A dejected and apathetic working class is an easy-to-control working class.

But there are many reasons to be hopeful.

Campaigning by communist, left and independent candidates in recent weeks has gained significant traction and support throughout different parts of Britain.

Despite the limitations of the first-past-the-post system, working people are looking beyond the imposed binary choice increasing numbers.

The opportunities for a more confident, ambitious and militant left and labour movement are there for the taking.

The ruling class will attempt to use the election of a notionally “social democratic” Labour government to stifle the increases in trade union militancy we have seen in recent years, the inspiring movement for Palestine and the other green shoots of class struggle which have been cultivated in recent years.

We cannot allow that to happen.

Instead, the victory of a right-wing Labour government must be our opportunity to deepen the class struggle and enter a new phase.

It is our chance to show that the enemy isn’t just the Tories. A social democratic government, also in service of the ruling class won’t be able to solve the crisis either. The culprit is capitalism.

Ahead of us we have a chance to lead working people to a revolutionary understanding and class consciousness — to a realisation of the necessity and urgency of socialism.

The Communist Party has put forward a 12-point election manifesto for real change which would address the immediate crisis facing working people.

The 14 Communist Party candidates and their campaigning teams have brought these arguments and these popular, socialist and anti-imperialist politics into the heart of different communities across the length and breadth of England, Scotland and Wales.

Cutting through decades of cold war propaganda, the response from working people has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of working and young people have encountered the Communist Party for the first time in recent weeks.

Many will take the decision to join the Communist Party and take up the fight for peace and socialism in the weeks ahead as the result of our efforts.

Our manifesto forms a concrete set of demands for the whole left and labour movement as we fight for working-class state power and to put Britain on the road to socialism.

A key part of that struggle is building up a strong, militant and much larger Communist Party, capable of providing political leadership and organisational weight to the thousands of struggles which lie ahead in the years to come.

Make sure you play your part — vote, join and fight with the Communist Party.

Johnnie Hunter is director of communications, Communist Party of Britain.