Smoke with no fire? Corbyn and Sultana’s new party launches in York

As York’s chapter of Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana’s new party launched in Fulford on Saturday 11th, this “People’s Assembly” aimed to democratically build the foundations for a local group.

According to organisers, 58 residents of York and the surrounding areas attended the event at Fulford Social Hall to voice concerns about the current political climate and discuss how to organise and coordinate the group moving forward.

The event’s main focus was to democratically decide on the structure, frequency, and priorities of the newly founded group, highlighting the importance of the party to take a bottom-up approach. When talking to participants about the importance of creating this group, many voiced that democracy and expediency were at the forefront of decision-making.

The two major motions discussed at the event were the election of an organisational committee and the decision of the group’s agenda priorities. While there are still questions about the details of the group’s leadership, an interim committee was discussed and successfully elected.

Discussions on agenda priorities highlighted key aims including, but not limited to: creating a cohesive list of core principles, mobilising local support and volunteers, ensuring an “activity-based” grassroots focus, participating in community outreach and campaigning on local issues. 

As the launch of a geographic cohort of a new left-wing party, the meeting was always going to have to be light on policy, strong on admin. Of particular note was the calamitous passing of the committee: attendees were prepared to vote on installing the interim committee before a member questioned the vote being by a simple majority (50%), which was then subjected to a vote in itself.

After the event, organiser Joe Lee-Doktor, a Philosophy and Physics PhD student at the University of York, told York Vision that he felt the meeting “got a lot achieved.” Lee-Doktor further highlighted the success of the discussion-centred event in creating the founding organisational core of the group, stating, “We had views that had to be expressed as a party. With an interim committee, we can now take it forward.”

Vision also spoke with the main organiser of the event, Ashlynn Hudson-Welburn, a National Railway Museum curator who moved to York in 2010 to study a Master’s. She described Your Party as “a chance for the left to unite around something” as well as voicing her concerns over the current state of British politics, stating: “We need something different – we have a broken system.” 

This disillusionment with current parliamentary politics was shared among the attendees; many of whom voiced their anger at the Labour government for their failure to act against the genocide in Gaza, as well as criticising their domestic policy such as the cutting of disability benefits and their rhetoric surrounding migration which one attendee described as “attacking” migrants and doing nothing to counter the rise of the far right that this country is presently seeing. 

“[Joining Your Party] just felt necessary,” Hudson-Welburn said. “We have people power: handing out leaflets, knocking on doors, it would start something. We have new media too.”

Vision asked why voters should pick Your Party over the Greens, with new leader Zack Polanski aiming to stake a claim to the left of Labour. While some of the supporters we spoke to were open to an electoral pact with them, that was off the cards for Hudson-Welburn. “The Greens are an… interesting party,” she said. “They may have a left-wing leader, but they’re not traditionally socialist at the roots.” She said that the Green Party “does not have left-wing values built into its core.” 

It is still early days for Your Party both in York and nationally. The launch event that took place on Saturday 11th left the group with unanswered questions of leadership and group priorities.

That being said, the event was a clear display of passion, commitment, and hope. Attendees seemed encouraged by the turnout and satisfied with the progress made in setting up the foundations of the group.

There was a lot of anger directed at Labour and a strong will for an alternative to its left. However, if Your Party wants to be a fighting force in politics, the cycle of ‘voting on how to vote to have a vote on whether to keep the status quo’ isn’t helping its chances of being a political party, rather than a mere shouting forum.